


To Know One's Heart

by VathySkotadi



Category: Toradora!
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Canon, Self-Doubt, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26300071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VathySkotadi/pseuds/VathySkotadi
Summary: Ami Kawashima and Minori Kushieda are friends. Kinda. Mostly. Are they, though? Their relationship is complicated, from both sides, and it's something they're working on fixing.Maybe 'friendship' is not exactly the type of relationship they're looking at, though.
Relationships: Kawashima Ami/Kushieda Minori
Comments: 26
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I still find it hard to believe I wrote this.

Spring was in full bloom, the air was comfortably warm, the cherry blossoms couldn’t be pinker, and the sky was of a beautiful, cloudless blue.

Today was a great day for starting the school year!

Minori Kushieda nodded energetically, taking in a deep breath and marching into school with her determination strong and her hopes up. She was captain of the now mixed softball team, she had to focus on entrance exams for university or try to get a scholarship, and she had to make sure she got past this school year with minimum hiccups!

Surely that couldn’t be too hard.

She approached the crowd of students around the announcement boards, checking for their new classes. Upon approaching, too, she noticed there were two distinct pockets of people. At the center of each one stood a friend of hers.

Pushing her way through the crowd, ignoring the annoyed grunts and yelps, she ended up in a spot roughly in the mid-way between the two circles. “Hey Amin, hey Takasu!” she exclaimed her greetings, earning her a few weirded out looks from the crowd around them.

The two of them turned to look at her.

Takasu’s pocket existed because his looks intimidated people who didn’t know him. It’d likely take a couple weeks for things to go back to normal with him. Right now, he smiled and waved at Minori with a strangely defeated look.

Ami’s pocket, too, existed because of her intimidating looks. Intimidatingly beautiful, that is. She looked at Minorin with a subtle smile and an air of defeat that most people probably missed.

As if called by her greeting, they also made their way closer to her. Some of the first years seemed amazed at Minori’s bravery. “Hey Kushieda, Kawashima” Ryuji said, still looking down.

“Hello, musclehead,” Ami looked at Ryuji. “And you too, Takasu.”

“So, did you find out what classes you were in?” Minori asked.

The two of them nodded. “We’re… in separate classes,” Ryuji sighed. “Not even Kitamura is in my class this year. I hope some of the others help me out in not scaring strangers off.”

“He’s not in our class either,” Ami said. “Though I’m sure he’ll be fine, being the president and all.”

Minori, in the meantime, had been eyeing the boards.

“We’re together, no need to keep looking,” Ami interrupted her. “Class 3-B,” she pointed the spot where Minori’s name showed.

“Ah! I see Kihara and Kashii are with us too. You must be happy about that,” Minori nodded energetically, though knowing she’d been separated from Ryuji and Yusaku was… harsher on her than she’d expected. Maybe due to the familiarity the three of them spoke with each other, people seemed to be less afraid of them and began closing in to read the boards too. “Well, we should probably get to our new classrooms.”

“Right…” Ryuji sighed, turning and walking with his head hung low and short, dragged steps. People parted for him with worry.

“Maybe we should drop by his class later to give others a chance to see he’s not a bad guy,” Minori said.

“Don’t worry, Noto and Haruta are in there too. I’m sure they’ll do a fine job of it,” Ami didn’t seem too worried, though she still had that strange aura around her.

“How are you taking the class changes?”

Ami shrugged. “No matter where I go I’ll be adored, so not a lot will change, will it?” The smirk she offered was at odds with the rest of her body language, but she started walking before Minori could try to get a more honest answer out of her.

Minori followed, wondering if this was an issue worth pursuing or not.

She and Ami had become relatively good friends in the past few months, but there was a… Barrier, or something like that, between them. A wall that made it so they couldn’t _really_ be honest with each other. A tip-toeing around what they said and did.

But why was that the case? Minori was more comfortable when around _Ryuji_ of all people, and he had been the guy who’d dumped her! Then again, Minori hadn’t ever fought with him either.

As she walked, staring at Ami’s back, unable to speak her mind, a part of her knew this couldn’t go unresolved. Hell, Ami had seen her in her most vulnerable moment and she’d been fairly supportive, in her own way.

But she’d work on that one step at a time. Rushing in wouldn’t do either of them any good. As long as they could have normal conversations and the occasional snow fight—not that there was any snow around at this time of year—she’d be happy.

They reached the classroom without any incidents. As with every year, the class was now full of people Minori knew by sight but not as persons, and the hallways were filled with new students. There seemed to be no official seating arrangement, so if they could sit wherever they wanted…

Ami chose a seat next to the window in the next to last row.

Minori made the hasty decision of sitting right in front of her.

“Really?” Ami raised an eyebrow when Minori looked back.

It was a fair question. “Yeah.” With a fair answer.

Ami took a deep breath. For a second, Minori’s brain entertained the idea of what would happen if Ami stood and chose another seat. Luckily, after a few seconds of staring into each other’s eyes, maybe for a hint that either of them were uncomfortable with this, Ami shrugged and looked out the window with clear disinterest.

Minori held back a sigh of relief. Instead, with a smile, she waved at two of their old classmates entering the new classroom, one of them even a teammate of hers.

That reminded her, they had practice this afternoon. And she’d need to fill the papers for the yearly budget. And in a short while they’d have to go to the opening ceremony, too. Today would be busy day!

A busy day it was.

When practice finished, after a whole day of studying and getting adjusted to classes, Minori could really feel the energy of youth running through her. For the class starts she’d taken a week off her part-time jobs, but that was just because she’d make sure to rest properly and get adjusted to a new schedule and that way she’d make sure work shifts didn’t overlap.

As she said goodbye to her teammates and took a second to unwind, she couldn’t help but spot a figure with glasses near the edge of the field, behind the protection fences. She jogged up to Yusaku Kitamura, who she’d only seen in the opening speech during the morning.

“Kitamura-san,” Minori did an exaggerated reverence.

Yusaku tilted his head. “I don’t really get why you’re being so formal, but good afternoon Kushieda,” he said with a smile.

Minori smiled back. “Sorry, I just wanted to see how others would feel when addressing the student council president, now in his senior year.”

Yusaku chuckled, looking around the field. “Well, I hope they’re not all like that, it would get tiring pretty quickly. How did practice go?”

Behind the glasses and his green eyes, Minori could tell Yusaku was longing to be a part of the fun. “Good! Lots of new members, too. It was pretty fun.”

“Ah, that’s good to know,” He nodded.

Minori eyed the field alongside him, leaning on the fence and letting out a sigh. “You’d like to come back to this?”

“Ah, observant, aren’t we?” He said in a cheerful voice before adding with far more normalcy, “But I won’t deny it. Not that my work as student council president is too much or unfulfilling, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be a part of the team too.”

“You can come whenever you want to play, we’ll always have a spot for you!” she declared.

Yusaku laughed. “I’ll think of it, but sadly, I don’t think I’m cut out for doing these two things at once. Thanks for the offer, though!”

Minori nodded, and they stayed in silence for a few moments. The sky was turning orange, and soon school would close and they’d have to go home, the first day of the school year done for.

“So, how did Takasu do in his new class?”

“From what I saw, he’s already had it far easier to not scare everyone around him. Guess all of our hijinks last year helped with something,” Yusaku walked around the fence and rested on it next to Minori. “How about you and Ami?”

Minori got the strange feeling that the question had been asked with a double meaning. She decided to go for the easy one. “Well, a few of our friends are in class, so we didn’t have a hard time readjusting. Honestly, I think the hardest part of the day was getting used to the lack of Yuri-sensei.”

“Yeah, I guess Takasu got the luck with that one,” Yusaku laughed, completely accepting her choice. “And what about just you, Kushieda? You feeling ok?”

Minori could have said yes. In fact, her first instinct was to jump, smile, give a thumb up and say ‘no problems’. But maybe due to the tiredness of practice, she simply nodded. “A little overwhelmed by everything, but I’ll get used to it in no time.”

“Ah, that’s good to hear. Well, this was a nice chat, but I really should be going,” Yusaku said, taking a look at the watch in his wrist.

“Good luck with your paperwork or whatever it is you do,” Minori waved as Yusaku walked away.

“Good luck to you too, Kushieda! See you later!”

Minori kept waving until he was out of sight. Then, she stood and prepared to close the storage room before going home.

She pointedly decided not to think too deeply about the other side of Yusaku’s question.

Minori entered her house when the sun was already gone from the sky, though there was still some daylight left. “I’m home,” she said, barely hearing an answer from her mother over in the kitchen. She took out her shoes at the entrance, put on some slippers and turned into the corridor until she reached the kitchen and living room. “Hey mom.”

Her mother turned. She’d already begun making dinner. “Minori, would you help me set up the table?”

“Sure, just let me drop my things in my bedroom,” Minori nodded and walked the rest of the way to the end of the corridor, sliding open the door and looking at the mess she’d left before going to school this morning. She’d woken up a bit late and had to run off. Guess she’d have to spend ten minutes or so cleaning up before going to sleep tonight.

Once back in the kitchen, she quickly set everything up for dinner. “Dad’s doing overtime again?” She asked.

“Yep,” her mother nodded. “But he should be back for dinner.”

Minori sighed. Her mother didn’t work, so her father often put in extra hours at work to save for Minori’s—and, eventually, her little brother’s—college education, despite the fact that Minori had told him about her own savings. At this point she’d grown tired of the conversation, so she’d just let it go. Hopefully Minori would be able to get her scholarship. She hadn’t quite told her parents she was aiming for that, as they didn’t exactly want her to go for a sports college, but they knew who their daughter was, which meant they most likely already smelled her goals.

“How much longer?” Minori asked, walking over to see that her mother was making some rice and frying some pork.

“About twenty minutes I’d say.”

“I’m gonna get started with my homework then.”

“Good luck with that.”

Minori left the kitchen and walked to her room. She was about to sit down to do her homework, but then she decided it’d be better to clean up now instead. As she put what things needed to go in the laundry in a corner and stored the others where they needed be, she started thinking of the three part time jobs she had and how she’d need to call them and start making her schedules. She paused for a moment, pushing down the anxiety of it. She’d given herself a free week for a reason.

After finishing with her cleaning, which had taken her far less time than she’d expected, she sat down to do her homework properly.

Keep yourself busy. Focus on the things you can see.

Minori had been repeating this mantra for months now. She didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep it up, but so far it had worked. She had good friends, she had a loving family, and she had good grades and a fair amount of savings. She was, overall, a very lucky person.

And she had no plans of letting that change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this was too long to put in the beginning notes, so imma say it here.  
> As you may guess, I'm not dead! Maybe you're checking the notes here because of that. Don't worry, I'm still writing. That's not gonna change anytime soon.  
> I wrote this out of a pure, desperate need to get some actual proper development on this couple. There's an astonishing lack of long fics for this and I'm 11 years late I know but FUCK I needed something like this and I guess I had to do it myself  
> I can't promise this is a good fic. It's one I wrote purely to fill that void within my soul. For some ungodly reason, I actually edited it, as if I wanted it to be presentable, when no-one is gonna read it.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy it, if you read it. Forget seeing any notes in future chapters, I'm dropping all of these in a single go. Maybe there'll be a note at the end, but idk.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, and would like to _see some more of it_ , consider _checking out_ my twitter or contacting me through Discord!  
> -Twitter: @BillErak (95% of this account is retweets of shitposting or gay stuff, check pinned tweet)  
> -Discord Tag: VathýSkotádi#1696  
> I'd really appreciate the _support!_


	2. Chapter 2

Ami yawned.

She looked out the window at the empty schoolyard during homeroom, not really in need to study anything at the moment—it was her last year of high school, and she should have maybe been a bit more worried about her future, but she was fairly certain her career as a model would stay intact—and finding little else to entertain herself with.

First week of the new term. Cherry blossoms in full bloom. Exams still a couple months away.

And she felt nothing.

Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration. Being bored and tired from everything that happened last year wasn’t exactly ‘nothing’, but it was true that she just couldn’t really get too excited about the start of the new year. She would have never admitted it, but she was still harboring a lot of negative feelings from that whole debacle. Rejection, disappointment, anger, frustration, and who knew what else.

Being separated from most people from her old class didn’t help either. Despite everything, she’d grown to like her classmates, and having to get to know a lot of new ones just didn’t sit well with her. At least Maya and Nanako were still there, along with the one person Ami still wasn’t sure if she considered a friend or not.

Minori Kushieda, the optimist musclehead, who right now was diligently doing some homework or other.

And who sat right in front of Ami.

Having the redheaded girl in front of her had been, so far, surprisingly not annoying. She kept mostly quiet during class, and she studied well. She was doing right as she’d said she would, ‘focusing on what she could see’. Ami still wasn’t sure why that load of bullcrap annoyed her so much.

The bell rang. First period ended.

Minori turned around. “Hey Amin,” her eyes were focused. Ami gave her a grunt of acknowledgement. “I’m going to the vending machines, do you want something?”

“Not right now,” Ami shook her head. Minori nodded and stood, leaving the classroom in a rush.

Ami sighed.

Minori was constantly treating her like a good friend nowadays. Sure, they weren’t as much at odds with each other as they had once been, but Ami still had problems reconciling with the two versions of her she knew. The genuinely cheerful girl who was nearly as good at hiding her true emotions as Ami, and the hesitant, gloomy girl who couldn’t hide her emotions from anyone. Well, save for a couple of idiots.

There’d been a point where Ami had been extremely annoyed by the both of them.

And now, she seemed to be facing someone else.

Minori had turned into an amalgamation of the two, a far more balanced person but also one far harder to read. Since confessing to Takasu and getting dumped by both him and her best friend, she’d dialed down her attitude, but in turn she’d been genuinely trying to be an uplifting cheerful person. Ami didn’t know what to make of her. She wanted to be annoyed, and she somewhat was, but after everything that had happened, after seeing her cry her heart out in part because of what Ami herself had done… there was a big part of her that also wanted to embrace that friendship.

“Here,” Minori reappeared, giving Ami a can of coffee.

“I didn’t ask for this,” Ami took the can anyways, popping it open.

“I had the feeling you’d like one anyways,” Minori smiled.

Yet that was the problem. Ami could be herself around Minori, she’d grown comfortable around her, but there was this constant feeling of forced amiability. Minori was still deeply affected by what had happened last year. She was fragile. And Ami wasn’t sure she’d make things better for either of them.

As she sipped on her coffee, she eyed Maya and Nanako, who chatted with some of their new classmates. Ami sighed. She’d been trying to be more open about her personality too, but old habits were hard to kill. She didn’t pretend to be an airheaded idiot anymore—lord, that persona had been annoying, how had she ever been able to keep it up?—but she still wasn’t… _herself_ around them.

“You haven’t been talking with them a lot this week,” Minori pointed out.

“We meet after school to have a coffee and chat. I don’t mind them chatting with other friends while in school,” Ami shrugged.

Minori hummed as a response. Ami suspected what she was thinking. It’d be a lie to say she didn’t think it herself, but her friendship with those two had always been based on a lie. Showing them her real self little by little had helped, but there was still a side of her that wondered if they’d still want to be her friends once she tore off her mask.

Damn Taiga, she had made it look so easy it had almost convinced Ami she could be like that too.

Ami eyed Minori again. It was weird for her to just sit down and do nothing. She could have asked if she was fine, but Minori’s answer would be an obvious yes. Ami’s question needed to be a bit more roundabout if she wanted to get any useful info out of her. “So, how’s the softball team doing?”

“Amin, I didn’t know you cared for softball!” Minori turned to her with a smirk. Ami deadpanned, letting her know she wouldn’t fall for the deflection. It seemed to work. “We’re doing fine. There’s been talk about shifting our times for the coming year to accommodate both girls and boys, who last year had different practice schedules and the guys got the short end of the stick when we merged the teams.”

“Sounds like a pain,” Ami said.

“Yeah, and I really need to get that sorted out today during practice or it’s gonna mess with my jobs.” There it was. That’s what had her worried.

“Do you really have time for part-time jobs? You know, entrance exams, normal exams, school events, being the captain of a team… Sounds like a lot,” Ami rested her head on a hand.

Minori released a soft chuckle. “It is, but I can handle it.”

 _For now,_ Ami thought. _But how long before it all crashes and burns? The higher you climb, the more the fall’s gonna hurt._ Not that she cared, though. Minori was free to do as she pleased.

Even if it meant she’d end up like last year.

“Wanna go shopping with me tomorrow?” Maya offered them.

Ami shook her head, taking a sip of her decaf. Minorin had already given her enough caffeine for the day. “I’ve got a session, sorry” she explained, giving her an apologetic smile.

“It seems like it will only be the two of us,” Nanako smiled at Maya.

Ami sighed. She wasn’t lying so that she didn’t have to go or anything, she did have a photo shoot session for a really pretty line of dresses. That probably wouldn’t stop the others from feeling like she was ditching them.

“You’re always so busy, Ami, I almost miss the days when you were taking a break from work,” Maya lamented.

Ami smiled and nodded. “Yeah, maybe I…” she trailed off, her mind going back to her other friends for a moment. Taiga, distancing herself from everyone she knew god knew why. Yusaku, student council president, giving his all at all times. Ryuji, being his kind, hard-working self every day. And even if she hated to admit it, Minori, who probably worked hardest among them all. Even today, as they’d walked out of school, Ami had gotten a glimpse of the redhead surrounded by her teammates, all of which seemed to be engaged in an important discussion about schedules. “Nah, I already took almost a year, I should be fine now.”

“You’re such a hard worker. You have a job, you go to the gym… I wonder if I should get a part-time job and make some money for myself…” Nanako said. She and Maya began chatting about that, but Ami’s mind had already gone somewhere else.

As she let her mind wander, taking in the chatter in the café behind them, looking at the busy street, she couldn’t help but wonder if she would drift away from her friends. Almost everyone put her on a pedestal, even the two that were sitting beside her right now. Did it even matter if she showed them her real self, when half the reasons everyone always admired her were simply her looks?

“… don’t you agree, Ami?” Maya asked.

Ami snapped out of her train of thought. “I’m not sure,” she gave a neutral answer.

“Hmm, maybe she has a point,” Nanako said, saving Ami from having to further engage. “Applying together to a part-time job could be fun, but it wouldn’t guarantee we’d get the same shifts and…” Ami disconnected again.

This was probably not the best time to doubt herself. Where was the certain Ami, the one she’d been for years before the stalker incident and the whole rollercoaster that her dubious crush on Ryuji had been? Buried deep within the ashes of her social life, probably.

She took another sip of coffee, deciding it’d be best for her sanity not to think too deeply about these things right now.

When she reached her home, she found it empty. This was common, as her relatives living here worked at this time of the day. She left her things, changed, went to the bathroom and then proceeded to do her homework while drinking a can of soda.

She felt a little pang of guilt. Sure, she went to the gym regularly, but she’d heard so many girls complain about how to keep a nice body they had to do things like count calories and all of that… She eyed the soda, considering if maybe she should try to do that.

But then again, she didn’t need to, so what was the point?

Sipping it, she let go of the guilt and simply focused on finishing these problems. First week of school and she’d already accumulated more homework than she’d be willing to admit. She’d grown too used to study groups with Yusaku around to help everyone out.

Right as she was struggling with a math equation, her phone rang.

“Hello, mom,” Ami answered.

“Hey Ami, how did the week go?” Her mother’s voice came through the speaker, and as usual, Ami felt some weight lifted off her shoulders.

“Nothing too unusual,” Ami replied, standing to go and sit on her bed.

“Are you sure? You sound down.”

Ami had to smile. Anna Kawashima could _always_ tell when she was distressed. One of the reasons she’d agreed so easily to her just suddenly moving and changing schools, even if she hadn’t known why. “Nah, I’m fine, I promise,” Ami said. “You know, the start of the school year. I’m just tired.”

“Hmm… If you say so,” it was clear her mother didn’t fully believe it, but pushing Ami anymore would be futile. “But please, tell me more about your week. You’ve been studying, right?”

“As always.”

“How about my cousin, is he doing ok?”

“Overworking himself, but nothing new.”

“Oh, how’s Yusaku? We haven’t seen him in so long…” Anna really liked Yusaku for some reason. Well, he was a diligent boy, so she probably was right in liking him.

“He’s doing fine. Listen mom, I should really—”

“Not yet, young lady. How about your other friends?”

Ami rolled her eyes. She should have never told her mother about the friendships she’d made. “I had a coffee with Maya and Nanako just today. I ended up in different classes from Yusaku and Takasu, so we haven’t talked much, but I’d say we’re still doing ok.”

“That’s good to hear, yeah… Wait, and what about the other one?”

“Other one?”

“Yeah, you know. What was her name…”

“You mean Taiga?”

“No, not the small one,” her mother hummed, trying to remember. “The one you fought over that guy with.”

 _Oh._ “Oh,” Ami’s spirits seemed to dial down ten points. “What about her?”

“You’re good friends, right?”

“Mom, you _just_ used a fight with her as an anchor to remember her.” Ami would’ve deadpanned if her mother was there. She tried to convey her expression with a monotone.

“Oh, well, but you’re still friends even after that, right? That means you’ve grown even closer!”

“Why do you even care about her?” Ami asked, a bit surprised by her mother’s insistence in talking about Minori.

“Whenever you’ve told me about her, it sounded like you two really get along, and I want you to have close friends.”

Ami blinked. “Excuse me? It’s not like I hate her or anything, but I think it’s a stretch to say we ‘really get along’. I always feel like we’re on the edge around each other.”

“Hmm…” Again, her mother didn’t sound convinced. “Well, if you say so. You’re at least on good terms, right?”

Ami rolled her eyes. “Yes, mom. I still consider her a friend.”

“Ah, well, then you should try to really make amends with her.”

“We’re not…” she trailed off. It wasn’t worth the effort. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Wonderful then! Your father says hi, too.”

“Hi dad,” Ami spoke a bit higher.

“Well then, guess I’ll leave you to it,” Anna realized she was stretching the conversation more than it needed be. Ami guessed she could understand her wish to talk to her daughter, but if there wasn’t anything to talk about then there’d be no point. “Don’t forget to thank Hisashi and Akira for their hospitality.”

“I thank them every day, mom. Talk to you later, love you,” Ami sighed.

“Love you too,” her mom said happily before hanging up.

Ami dropped the phone on the bed and leaned back. She laid facing upwards for a few moments, just enjoying the leftover warmth of talking with her mom. She never really said it, but she _did_ miss her parents. Talking on the phone helped, but…

Well, she was a big girl now. She could deal with it. She’d turn eighteen this year, after all.

Speaking of birthdays, she had no idea when Minori’s was. Maybe she should get her something? It was probably too long a wait, though. Her mother had been so quick to tell her to ‘make amends’, but there was nothing to make amends over. They’d already talked about all they needed to. Their fight, what happened with Taiga and Ryuji, and two months without the tiny troublemaker… They were on as good terms as they could be.

What would have Taiga gotten for her best friend? Being there in the first place could’ve been nice. Everyone always looked only at Ryuji as the one who hurt for his girlfriend’s disappearance, but Minori had been Taiga’s best friend for far, far longer. And maybe ‘best friend’ was an understatement.

Ami shook her head. She assumed Minori had also liked Taiga, but she could be jumping to conclusions. She’d done that, last year. But then again, even Minori had admitted she didn’t know.

Maybe she should just ask.

But what for? Even if Minori had, in fact, liked Taiga, it would change nothing. Why was Ami so curious? She probably only wanted to know to be certain she wasn’t wrong. There were few things Ami disliked more than making erroneous assessments of people. Or maybe…

She’d get her a bat. A good softball bat. No birthday required, just a gift. Maybe she’d find a way to subtly ask her about how she liked them and make sure to find one that suited her tastes. She could even send for one to be hand-made… though that’d probably be too damn expensive and wouldn’t be worth the effort when Minori would change it after growing up a bit. A high-end bat would be good enough anyways.

That would certainly put her on better terms with Ami. Maybe enough for her to finally start being truly honest with her…


	3. Chapter 3

There were two surprises in Minori’s morning that Sunday.

The first one, a surprisingly low amount of people coming into Jonny’s for a good breakfast.

The second one, the blue-haired beauty walking in with a pair of glasses and a hoodie, as if that were enough to hide who she was. Maybe on purpose, maybe at random, Ami ended up sitting at one of the tables assigned to Minori. Even if she hadn’t, Minori would’ve just asked one of her co-workers to let her serve it.

She prepared what she used to call the Taiga Special before approaching the table, and set it up in front of Ami with a smile. “Morning, Amin. It’s rare to have you here all by yourself,” she said with energy.

Ami looked at the massive cup of ice-cream and up at Minori. She examined the surrounding area before removing her hood and glasses and letting out a relieved sigh. “Thank you,” she said with a tired tone. She grabbed the spoon and began eating without pause.

She didn’t look too tired or sad, but there was an intense aura around her. “What brings you here this fine morning?” Minori asked, sitting in front of her.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Ami raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a slow morning, and the only other client in one of my tables is an old man who likes to stay here for hours while only drinking two cups of coffee max,” leaning over the table, she spoke in a lower voice. “Are you hiding from someone?”

Ami deadpanned her. “No, I’m just here to ask-” she paused, catching her own sentence, “take a break and focus on my studies,” she finished. “I have a shoot this afternoon and I fell asleep before doing my homework yesterday. I need to clear my mind.”

“Ah! Homework, that old nemesis of all students,” Minori nodded. “You can ask me for help, if you want, I’ve already done it,” she stood and got ready to go back to work.

“I’ll… Keep it in mind,” Ami said, though she didn’t sound too sure. They both had fairly good grades, so there wasn’t a lot they could teach to each other. Maybe Minori should try calling Yusaku over? That’d be too much of a hassle for all of them, probably.

Minori turned, feeling a little more upbeat. Talking with her friends was always a way to recharge for her. She went back to waiting, eyeing the only two clients she currently had. No-one was coming in, and Minori had to wonder if there was some sort of holiday today she was forgetting.

After a while, the old man finally asked for his second cup of coffee, which Minorin prepared in a minute and brought to him as he read the morning newspaper.

When she was done with it, she was surprised to see Ami raising a hand towards her. She approached the table without missing a beat. “Anything you need?”

“Here,” Ami pointed to a math problem. Minori examined it. “Am I doing it right?”

“You seem to be,” Minori said. “I think I remember doing it the same way, so either we’re both right or both wrong!” She gave Ami a wide smile, trying to be supportive.

“You don’t make me feel a lot better, but I guess I’ll have to take it,” Ami shook her head. Minori was about to back away again when Ami lifted a finger. “Wait. How did the whole schedules thing you were worried about end?”

Minori hesitated for a second, surprised that she’d even remember that. She looked around, saw that no-one needed help, and sat in front of Ami again. “Well, it turned out fine. There was some heat between the girls and the boys but we managed to agree on a schedule by the end. Now it’s only a matter of the student council approving it,” she explained, remembering how many times she’d had to calm down the constant fights the day prior.

“Must be rough. Now the team’s twice the size it used to be, right?” Ami was still looking at her book as she spoke, but Minori had to wonder if maybe she just did it to pretend she didn’t care as much as she did.

“About two-thirds bigger, I’d say. The boy’s team was smaller, but yeah, it’s complicated.”

Ami stayed silent for a few seconds. “Yeah, must be rough…” she repeated. She wrote some more, took another spoonful of ice-cream, and then she paused. “And your jobs? I see you’re here, but what about the other ones?”

“Well, I also work at a ramen parlor, though I don’t think the owner is gonna need me a lot once the weather starts getting warmer, so I’d say I’ve only a month or so left there. And then I also do some delivery jobs around a neighborhood not far from here two times a week, but that one’s easy,” she explained.

Ami nodded, but her expression shifted. “Wrong…” she muttered.

Minori eyed her page. “You sure? Let me check.”

When Ami’s eyes met Minori’s, she seemed surprised that she’d been heard. “Oh, right. Uhm… Here,” she lent Minori the notebook, though with a reluctance that left Minori a bit confused. The problem on the page was fine, though.

“This is correct, as far as I can tell.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Ami took her book back and sighed. She eyed Minori, as if expecting her to go, but Minori didn’t have anything else to do right now. There was a bit of an awkward silence in which Minori could’ve sworn Ami was just wishing for her to go away.

Minori didn’t move. She wasn’t trying to make Ami uncomfortable, but if she wanted her to go then she’d have to say it out loud. Plus, Minori was half certain she was misreading the signals. Ami was her friend, and she’d come to the one place she _knew_ she’d find Minori. So the ‘wanting her to go away’ thing didn’t really hold up.

“Are you feeling ok?”

Ami, seemingly shocked by the question, nearly dropped her ice-cream. “Huh? Why do you ask?” She said with too much faked nonchalance.

“You seem… off,” Minori narrowed her eyes in thought before realization hit her. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you on your—”

“You finish that sentence,” Ami pointed a finger and anger-filled eyes at her, “and I throw my remaining ice-cream on your face. No. I’m just a bit nervous about the photo shoot this afternoon, nothing you should worry about.”

“Ah, I see,” Minori nodded. She could relate, maybe. Ami was probably feeling like she always did before a big game. “Then leave your nerves to me, I know exactly what to bring you,” she said, standing.

“Wait, I don’t need…” Ami’s voice disappeared as Minori entered the kitchen.

Ami tried not to die inside.

Why had she come here? She had wanted a place to relax and study, and the ice-cream was nice, but then she’d actually begun asking Minori about her life! She _had_ to smell something was off. Ugh. She’d messed up that conversation because she’d been distracted. She’d wanted to know what kind of bats Minori liked, but instead she’d gone for the job question for some reason.

Her brain had no business pushing her in that direction. Who cared how Minori was doing with her jobs? She was… Well, Minori! She’d probably manage to find a way to keep it going anyways. And one of those jobs would only last for another month, according to her, so her pace would be forced to slow down whether she wanted it or not.

And she’d lied about being nervous. Yeah, right! Like she’d ever get nervous about _photos_. She didn’t want to appear like she was full of herself or anything, but she was one hundred percent aware of just how beautiful she was. She could rock any outfit, she could… Ugh, and now she was getting on her high horse again.

Minori came back before she managed to get her thoughts in order. Her mysterious gift was… a green tea with a sweet scent. “There we go. Drink this with the ice-cream, they’ll go great together,” Minori said while smiling that ever optimist smile of hers. It was easy to see why Ryuji had fallen for her.

Ami took a sip of her tea not without some skepticism. It was… way too sweet. “I like sweets, but I feel you used _far_ too much sugar for this.”

“Honey, actually,” Minori winked at her. “It’s said it gives you an energy boost, and also healthier than normal sugar!”

“I mean, I won’t argue with that,” _even though it sounds like a myth,_ “but did you _need_ to put… what? Three spoonfuls of honey into this?”

“Four. Maybe five.”

Ami closed her eyes. For one so adamant about dieting, she sure as hell didn’t seem to worry too much about what others ate. Fine, she’d consume it all just for the sake of it while setting her focus back on her homework, which she _really_ needed to get done before her session.

Still, having Minori in front of her was kinda distracting. Ami wondered if she should try to get the info on the bat. How could she do it without being too obvious? _No, focus._ If she finished her homework fast enough she’d have some free time to think of these things. The stupid bat thing could wait. Why was she so fixated on a bat anyways? Maybe Minori would prefer a mitt or something…

Minori had gotten up to serve new clients a couple times by the time Ami finished her homework. She was also done with her tea and ice-cream by that point, and Minori nodded in approval as she retrieved the cups. Nothing like ice-cream and tea to boost oneself and be ready to face anything.

Yet, when Minori went back, Ami still looked defeated. “Are you sure you’re ok?” Minori asked with worry.

“Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry,” she shook her head, then checked the time. “Anyways, I should get going…”

“Good luck with your shoot! I’m sure you’re gonna do great!” Minori gave her a thumb up.

Ami eyed her for a while, as if trying to decipher something. Whatever it was, she made her mind and reached into her purse. “Here’s your payment, keep the change,” she took out a couple of bills, one of them not needed. Minori frowned, about to refuse the extra bill when Ami simply left them on the table, gave her a smirk and walked off.

Minori looked at the extra bill. Ami didn’t know of her family situation, not fully. There were rumors going around about Minori’s many works, though. Maybe Ami had heard the wrong one. With some hesitance, she put it in a pocket separate from the others, wondering if she should return it. Ami was kind. Even if they’d had their differences, Minori could see that. Even through their discussions, in the end, Ami had wanted to help… in her own way. This was the same. Ami was probably aware that Minori wanted money, and had nonchalantly given her some. Completely ignoring the fact that what Minori wanted wasn’t charity. Or maybe not caring about it. Either way, this bill was going to find its way back to Ami’s wallet.

After cleaning Ami’s leftovers, Minori approached the table with her new clients, just to make sure they didn’t need anything. “… model, right?” one of them was saying as they pointed at Ami, who had gone down the street, now without a hoodie or glasses.

“Right! It’s Ami Kawashima, she was on the cover of a magazine last month! Though I don’t remember which one…” The other one replied as they watched the model go.

Minori paused. This was common chatter for wherever Ami went. “She must have an easy life. Beautiful, rich, I wish I was her…”

The comment struck the wrong chord in her. “You should probably avoid speaking behind people’s backs,” Minori finally approached the table, speaking with a strained voice and a fake smile. “Was there anything else you needed?”

The two girls looked at her with confused expressions. “Uhm… Not right now, thank you.”

Minori nodded, gave a respectful nod and walked away. The two girls didn’t resume their conversation until she was out of earshot. Minori sighed once she was behind the counter, not even sure why she’d reacted so passive-aggressively. Sure, Ami was her friend, but those two had only said something probably everyone thought at some point.

_An easy life…_ Minori wouldn’t be the judge on whether Ami’s life was ‘easy’ or not, but even she had her own set of problems to deal with. Maybe that’s what pissed her off. She patted the pocket where she’d stashed the bill she meant to give back, wondering if maybe rejecting the gift wouldn’t offend Ami in turn. _No one can deny she’s rich. Or even beautiful, I guess._

Maybe she’d have given it more thought, but when another client took up one of her tables, she put on her work face and got to it, leaving her pondering for later.


	4. Chapter 4

Ami was mid-shoot when the idea struck her.

She had been posing perfectly, having a few photos taken of her on a lean white chair that was really pretty but also unbearable to sit on, when she jumped up and in a flash had reached her stuff and taken her phone. The people around her in the studio were surprised, but maybe due to Ami’s speed they’d assumed something was wrong and were a bit dubious about getting close to her.

She was already calling when the camera man mustered up the courage to approach her. “Miss Kawashima? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, yes, give me five minutes.”

The phone rang a couple times before it was picked up. “Hello?” A man’s confused voice came through the speaker.

“Takasu, how’s your afternoon?” Ami asked in an overly sweet tone.

“Kawashima? Do you need something? I’m a bit busy dealing with dinner and- Ah, no Inko, this is pork, see? Pork!”

Ami took a deep breath. “Takasu, you know a lot about Minori, right?”

Ryuji did a few strangled noises before answering. “Why would you ask that?! You know I’m dating Taiga! Even if she’s not here…” he sighed.

“It has nothing to do with romance, idiot. Look, I wanna do something nice for her, I was thinking about giving her a gift,” she could hear the noise of metal against metal on the other side, it was clear Ryuji was indeed cooking.

“Does it have to be right now? I’m really in no position to talk.”

“Oh, no, we can talk about it tomorrow. Look for me in the vending machines during the first break, will you?”

“Sure, sure. See you then, goodbye- Mom, what are you doi-” the call ended suddenly. She blinked a couple times before deciding to ignore the last part and closing her phone.

Ami turned to the rest of the team. “What? Let’s get back to it, come on,” she clapped and walked back to the uncomfortable chair, posing as perfectly as she had before. Sometimes her good ideas surprised even her.

Minori woke up sooner than usual that Monday.

Today was a morning practice day. One hour before school, fifteen minutes to take a quick shower and get changed for class.

To her surprise, this had actually been the easier day to decide on. Seemed like everyone else had something else to do Monday afternoons. The only other morning day was Friday, which again had been a surprisingly easy one to set. The afternoon practices were the complicated ones, though. Not only their length but a lot of team members hadn’t ended up happy with them.

But everyone had to make sacrifices.

Getting up, Minori yawned and began her morning routine. Stretching, bathroom, breakfast, brushing her teeth. She was used to waking early, but sometimes she still found herself surprised at how quiet this early in the day could be. The city hadn’t woken up quite yet and so the only sounds were those of the occasional bird chirping.

She thought about the day prior. She still wasn’t sure of what to do with that bill, but for now she’d just refrain from spending it.

Minori left some tea done, ready to heat up, for her father, who would wake up five minutes or so after she left the house.

And so, she made her way to school in the cool morning, already thinking of the exercises for practice. She’d have to ask her manager to organize some matchup soon, too. Some of their new members already showed a lot of promise. Who knew, maybe this year they’d be able to go to nationals…

But no time to think of that. Ohashi’s team would reach where it needed, and in the meantime, they had to do their best. That all started with a good practice.

As she walked, Minori pumped herself up. The start of a new week, a week full of possibilities! She was back to work, she had dealt with her training and everything was going to be great! She could do this…

Ami sat in her usual spot between the vending machines, only slightly on edge due to the story Minori had told her. She’d let that get to her in the moment, but it was clear in retrospect Minori had only used that as a segue for… That stuff about ghosts she liked to use in place of being direct.

She hadn’t gotten a drink, and was instead wondering why these vending machines were so… unaccounted for, most of the time. Sure, they were a bit off the way, but they were still convenient and close to second-year classrooms. So many interesting memories of this place, though a lot of them now tainted, as her previous liking of Ryuji had morphed into a strange, deep-rooted annoyance at him. Not for being rejected—the idiot hadn’t even realized Ami had liked him until _after_ he’d begun dating Taiga anyways—but for how much the guy had toyed with both Minori and Taiga. It hadn’t really been on purpose, but he’d done it nonetheless.

And think of the devil… “Hey Kawashima. How are you doing?” Ryuji gave her a bit of a stiff greeting while awkwardly standing in front of her.

“Same as always,” Ami looked up with a smile. “So, did yesterday’s dinner end up fine?”

“Mostly, yeah…” Ryuji leaned back against the railing of the stairs and looked at her for a few seconds. Ami wondered why he looked so uncomfortable.

“So, about my question,” she began, ready to be done with it.

“Wait, first,” Ryuji raised a hand. “You do know asking me about the girl I used to like is kinda… weird, right?”

He looked so earnest and innocent when saying that. It might’ve been cute in other context, but right now Ami had gotten enough of this kinda thing from him. “Why? Because you don’t like her anymore? Or because you still do?” She asked. Ryuji’s mouth began opening and closing like he was stuck, so she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m teasing you. There’s no reason for it to be ‘weird’. As long as Minori never finds out, of course.”

“That’s kind of my entire point.”

“So let’s get this over with before anyone hears us!” Ami gave him the sweetest, fakest smile she knew how to produce.

He sighed. “Fine. It was something about a gift, right? You do know her birthday isn’t until December…”

“It’s got nothing to do with her birthday, I’m just a great person: I wanna buy her a softball bat,” Ami went straight to the point. “You know everything about her. What kind of bats does she like?”

Ryuji blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Bats. You know. For hitting balls,” she made the motion of swinging with her hands.

“No, I know what you’re talking about, it’s just… Aren’t those things, like, expensive?” The disbelief in his face might have been offensive, but Ami couldn’t hold a chuckle.

“It’s a gift _I’m_ going to make, not you,” she said. “Come on, spit the info.”

“Well I… I have no idea,” he looked sorry. “I never considered buying her a bat, to be honest.”

“You know how much she loves softball and you didn’t consider buying her a bat?” Now it was Ami’s turn to be in disbelief.

“It’s not something you’d normally think of!” He snapped. “Whatever, the point is: I can’t help you,” he said, sighing.

 _Great,_ Ami thought, _that was a wasted idea._ Now she was back to square one, with no idea of how to proceed.

“You seem really fixated on that,” Ryuji said. “Why a bat, anyways? Can’t you give her something cheaper?”

“God, you’re so annoying,” Ami shook her head.

“You called me here! Come on, just answer me.”

“I want to…” Ami paused. What was really the reason she wanted so badly to give her something like a bat? “I just want to make it clear to her that I’ve… acknowledged something she told me a while ago. And maybe make amends.”

Ryuji frowned. If Ami didn’t know him, she’d think he was going to murder her or something. Once you grew used to them his eyes weren’t that bad, but when he made these expressions things could get really uncomfortable. “Make amends? You still aren’t over that fight you had?”

Ami, again, rolled her eyes. “We’re both over that. It’s more complex, we…” she took a deep breath. “I hurt her—and no, I don’t mean the fight in the mountain,” Ami pointedly did _not_ recall any of the absurd cocktail of emotions she’d felt during _that_ whole spectacle. “I stuck my nose where I shouldn’t have and she ended up worse than she should have because of me.” She recalled how desperately Minori had been to tell her that she was now going to ‘focus on the things she could see’. Most importantly, she recalled how dismissive she’d been at the time. “I haven’t really… Apologized for it. In fact, I didn’t even…” she shook her head, frowning. “Why am I telling you this? It’s not like you can help me.”

“We’re friends, aren’t we? What was it that you did? Maybe you should just apologize, instead of giving her an overly expensive gift,” Ryuji said. Ami was annoyed at how much sense he made. She was also determined to ignore the advice and do what she wanted. She’d spent far too much time thinking about it at this point to not go through with it.

“Listen, let me handle this for myself. All I wanted was some help,” Ami looked away.

Ryuji shook his head. “Well, I guess I’m no-one to teach about communication,” he gave in. “If you wanna know so bad, just ask her teammates.”

“I can’t! I don’t know them; they’d probably tell her that I was snooping around.”

“Then… I don’t know, go watch her practices or something. Maybe you’ll figure it out,” he shrugged. “You’re really overcomplicating this,” he said, scratching the back of his head with a dubitative look.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Ami put a hand to her chin, thinking. “And even if I don’t know what I’m looking at, I can pretend to be curious and ask her without seeming suspicious. Who would have thought, you’re actually pretty smart.”

“Ah, glad that’s settled,” he shook his head. “What a waste of a break.”

Ami extended a hand towards him. He helped her up. “Don’t say that. There’s guys who would kill to spend a break chatting with me, you know,” she said with a smile and a wink.

“That’s ‘cause they don’t know how tiring it can be to talk with you sometimes,” he retorted as they both began their way back to their classrooms.

Ami spun and took a few fast steps to get ahead of Ryuji. “And probably none of them will manage to learn the truth, what a shame…” she chuckled. “See you later.”

“Yeah, yeah, see you,” Ryuji waved lazily as Ami began her path downstairs.

To go see Minori practice. How had that not occurred to her?

“Hey, Minorin,” Ami called to her as classes ended that day. “You don’t have practice today, right?”

Minori tilted her head, curious. “Yeah, we had morning practice today. Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering. I’m thinking about maybe taking a look at one of the practices one of these days.”

The simple idea, harmless and maybe even expected—after all, everyone got curious about the clubs their friends attended from time to time—hit Minori like a truck. “Whaaaaat?!” She exclaimed. “Ami, the Goddess of Beauty of Ohashi wants to witness our training?!”

“It’s not such a big-”

“Oh, but it is! Oh boy, wait until I tell the others! Don’t worry Amin, I’ll be sure we give it our all tomorrow!” She grabbed her head, shaking it wildly. “Oh boy, I don’t know if the schedule we have for tomorrow will be enough to impress you!”

Ami groaned. “Please don’t do anything stupid,” she said with a tired look. But Minori’s head was already in another place, thinking of how to make practice exciting for when her friend showed up to see. And the solution came to her rather easily. They were practicing a sport, and what was more exciting to a sport than a proper game?

“I know what to do,” Minori made her voice serious and stared Ami in the eyes. “I won’t disappoint you.”

“You can be so hard to understand at times…”

“Hey Ami, we’re leaving, you coming?” Nakano suddenly called the beauty from the door.

“Oh, yes, wait a second!” Ami replied. She looked at Minori and took a deep breath. “Don’t take it so seriously, I’m just gonna watch for a while. Anyways, see you tomorrow,” she waved as she walked out of the classroom.

As soon as she left, Minori felt a fire within. A desire to show Ami something that would make her want to join! Or something like that. A general need to show off, if that made sense.

First things first, though, she had to talk about it with her club.


	5. Chapter 5

“You’re not coming?” Maya asked Ami with big, disappointed eyes.

“I did tell you I had plans, didn’t’ I?” Ami replied. She didn’t recall if she’d done it, actually…

“I don’t think you did,” Nakano said.

Ami sighed. “Sorry then, I have plans. I’ll see you tomorrow though,” she said as she picked her bag and walked out of the classroom, leaving behind her disappointed friends. It was fine, though. She’d just figure out what kind of bat Minori liked and then she’d be mostly free to hang out. She could even take a shopping trip with them and take the chance to look at some sports store or something.

Minorin had left a while ago, and Ami had been chatting with her friends, waiting for the softball team to get ready.

When Ami walked out into the field, something was immediately apparent: Minori had told the club members about her visit, for they started cheering the second they saw her. Boys—dressed in the white official uniform—were the loudest, some even yelling some rather inappropriate things, while girls—dressed in the red practice uniforms—looked at Ami with indifference or disdain. Some, however, looked at her with a quiet intensity—something Ami had begun to notice more recently than she’d be willing to admit.

But one member was very clearly missing. Where was…?

“Hey Amin!” Minori’s voice came as sudden and loud as a phantom’s screech, making Ami freeze and almost faint. The redhead stepped around Ami, giving her a curious glance. “Are you ok?”

Ami relaxed when seeing Minori’s face. She was far stealthier than she let on. “Save for the fact that I almost pee myself? Sure,” she said, shaking off the momentary shock. “Shouldn’t you be with your club?”

“Ah, well, I was fetching someone to help,” Minori said with a smirk, pointing behind Ami.

When she turned, she was faced with the round glasses of her oldest friend. “Hello, Ami, how’s your afternoon?”

“Yusaku?” Ami raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be doing… Paperwork or something?”

“Ha! Maybe, but not right now,” he smiled and pushed his glasses up. “See, even student council presidents are allowed to part of a club! I barely partake in activities here, but I’m technically still a member of the softball team!” He spoke with enthusiasm.

“Today we’re doing a boys vs girls game, just for you,” Minori said with a thumb up. “So you better watch carefully!”

“Yeah!” One of the guys in the field said. “Please watch us!”

The rest of the boys agreed with the sentiment. Ami smiled and waved, holding back the need to roll her eyes and gag. “Please excuse them, they’re excited,” Minori pleaded.

Ami spoke in a low voice while trying not to break her smiling face. “I’d be happier if you took the attention away from me right now. I came here to watch some sports, not to be adored. I can do that the rest of the day.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Minori did a salute and ran off, getting everyone ready.

Yusaku stepped next to Ami and patted her shoulder. “I knew they day you’d come to appreciate sports would come.”

Ami looked at him and considered telling him the real reason for her ‘interest’. Would he spill the beans? Probably not, but he was also awful at keeping secrets, so she decided against it. “Don’t grow excited, I’m just curious.”

“Sure, sure,” he winked at her and jogged towards the field, where his teammates greeted him loudly. It seemed everything guys did was loud. Ami stayed out of the way until everything had been set up.

While surprise wouldn’t be the right word to describe what she felt, it did come close to it. She hadn’t expected Minori to organize an entire game for her to witness. Most importantly, it not being practice would make it decisively harder for Ami to ask what she wanted to. It was as if the universe itself was telling her to drop the idea and to just get something easier.

But no. She’d made up her mind, she would do this.

As the teams got into position, more than one person turning and making sure Ami was watching them—one of them was going to humiliate himself and Ami would have it _really_ hard to not laugh—she started to feel a bit guilty. She was aware of the effect her presence had on places. Maybe she…

Wait, no. Minori had organized all of this for her. This time it wasn’t her fault, was it?

But _why_ had Minori done this? This was an awful lot of effort for a person who was still dubious on where their relationship stood.

Maybe she’d wholly misread Minori altogether?

Right, like she could ever make a mistake that big.

She walked to the protective fences right as the game was about to begin.

“Ok, as we talked, for the sake of brevity this’ll be a five-innings game!” Minori shouted. She was standing on the center of the diamond, glove and ball in hand. She smiled broadly as everyone gave the ok and turned to the first batter, a tall guy Ami didn’t recognize. The umpires for the game were all leftover girls. Ami had the feeling Minori was well aware that most of the boys wanted to look good in front of her.

Ami completely ignored all of them, focusing her attention on Minori.

The girl bowed for a second, ball on her back, as she looked at the catcher behind the batter. Then, after a second, she got ready to pitch. She had an intense look, but there was also the hint of a smirk on her face as she prepared. The batter got in position and Minori did her first throw.

Ami’s eyes followed the soaring ball. She wasn’t interested in the game itself, she was just here to spot Minori, but it was hard to ignore the movement. The batter swung but missed, the ball having been aimed apparently straight for the catcher’s glove. The smirk grew on Minori’s face when the umpire called a strike.

No excitement was drawn out of Ami for the game, but she did smile a bit when seeing Minori throw again and manage to force another strike. There was… _fire_ in her eyes. Not only enjoyment, which she clearly had, but an actual determination to win. She was taking this very seriously, far more seriously than Ami would’ve expected from a game she planned in a day.

Before the third pitch she fixed her hat. Her eyes narrowed, but she never lost the smile. Ami actually grew a bit tense, Minori’s determination bleeding into her. She wanted to set things with this pitch, it was obvious. The batter loosened his shoulders and did a couple of practice swings. Everyone on the field stood very still.

Minori bowed. She stared the batter down. She took position.

Even though Ami had been paying close attention, she had only been looking at Minori’s face and almost missed her movements.

The ball was flying before she noticed, and a second later the batter swung and the sound of a ball hitting a mitt followed.

“Out!” The umpire’s voice rose.

Minori beamed towards Ami and gave her a thumbs up, as if that had been dedicated to her.

It took her a second to react, but Ami smiled back and waved. She understood the basic rules of softball—well, of baseball, but she assumed softball was the same—and little else, but she was a bit impressed.

The batter sighed in disappointment, head hung loose. Ami spared a look for him, and he looked ashamedly at her. She offered him a pity smile.

The next one to come up to the batter box looked fired up too. Minori gave him a nod of respect, which he didn’t bother to return, and that instantly put him on Ami’s bad side.

“Get him, Minorin!” Ami cheered.

Minori seemed a bit surprised for a second, but she quickly shook that off and gave her a determined nod. On the other hand, the guy was pouting at Ami’s clear bias. Yusaku’s loud laughter came from the side of the field where the boy team currently waited. He was next in line.

The boys began to cheer for his friend, who seemed to grow taller at this. Ami held back from shouting anything else, lest the guys just give up.

Minorin pitched.

The guy seemed like he was about to swing, but he let the ball pass. It was a ball. The next pitch was the same. Ami wondered if Minori was doing it on purpose or not, but her face was like stone, a smiling mask of never-faltering confidence.

Even then, Ami knew how good Minori could be at hiding her insecurities. The boys’ cheering grew even louder, to the point where the girls began to encourage Minori to just leave them out without giving them a single chance to bat. Before her next pitch, Minori threw a sideways glance at Ami and rolled her shoulder.

She pitched.

The batter swung. A great swing, he even hit the ball… from below. The thing went high, soaring for a few seconds. The poor boy had given it his all to run to first base, but it was futile, for one of the infielders caught the ball before it hit the ground, putting him out instantly.

“That’s two out of three!” Minori declared. “Ready to be the third one, Kitamura?”

“We’ll see if you have it that easy!” He replied with a smile as he stepped into the batter box. “Bring it on!”

“I won’t hold back!” Minori said.

“I wouldn’t expect any less!”

Ami rolled her eyes at the role playing. These two could be so corny when they wanted.

Still, it was clear they were both very serious. Yusaku stared into Minori’s eyes as she prepared pitch, and she didn’t shy away from the eye contact. Ami felt as if time slowed down. A showdown. If Yusaku lost here, the teams would switch and they’d get no runs in the first inning. If Minori let him move on, though, she’d lose a perfect first inning.

Wow, Ami was getting into this way more than she expected she would.

Minori did that bow—why did they do it, anyways?—and prepared her pitch. Yusaku readied his bat, getting into position.

This time, Ami did see the movement. The way Minori’s back arched as she threw, the step forward, the way her eyes grew in intensity as she was about to let go of the ball, and the unblinking focus for the second it flew through the air towards the catcher.

Yusaku swung.

He hit and threw the bat, running.

The ball flew straight and downwards at an angle, bouncing. Minori was quick to react and caught instantly, not wasting a single second before throwing it towards first base.

Yusaku and the ball had a short-lived race towards it, but in the end, the ball reached first. Yusaku’s best effort wasn’t enough, and so he was out.

The guys booed.

“Seems like I’m a bit rusty!” He said with a hearty laugh.

“You managed to bat my best pitch, though,” Minori said with a lot of seriousness. “Well played!”

“You are one worthy opponent, Kushieda,” he said nodding in respect before the entire team of guys flooded the field and the girls stepped to the side.

Ami had kind of been expecting Yusaku to be the boy’s pitchers, but given that he hadn’t been really practicing, it made sense that he wouldn’t be. Instead, it was a tall, strong looking guy with a murderous look in his eyes. He meant business.

His pitches were flawless. Arguably even better than Minori’s though Ami didn’t find them nearly as impressive. He struck out the first two batters with three straight strikes, while the third one managed to hit the ball and reached first base safe.

The fourth in line for batting was Minori.

She looked towards Ami as she walked to the batter box. Her smile now was far more relaxed, with a natural confidence that betrayed her earlier expression as nothing but a tense mask. Their eyes met, and Ami had the strangest of epiphanies. For a second, she could almost _read_ what Minori was thinking. _‘Check this out’_ her expression said.

Minori stepped up to the batter’s box, stared at the pitcher and then pointed her bat towards the sky. A very specific spot.

She was… calling a home run?

The guys were outraged, but the girls outyelled them while cheering for Minori.

The redhead took position without a single practice swing. Her smile had dwindled, remaining as just a bit of a confident smirk, quiet confidence emanating from her like an aura that everyone must have felt. Everyone grew silent as the pitcher stared at Minori with a mixture of uncertainty and determination, conflicting emotions that seemed to fight for his attention.

He seemed to allow determination to take over. He cleaned his hand on his back pocket and bowed.

Then he pitched.

Maybe it was because Ami was as tense as everyone else. Maybe the collective minds of everyone in the field wanting to see the moment warped reality itself. But for a second, Ami could’ve sworn time slowed to a trickle as Minori’s swing, in slow motion, made a perfect arch and hit the ball in just the right way at just the right angle. Her face was perfectly calm as she swung, beautiful and absurdly scary at the same time. The face of someone who had seemingly seen the future.

Expert or not, Ami knew what would happen the second the bat hit the ball. The sound of it was the trigger for time to go back to normal, and the ball flew away.

And out of the field.

Minori and the girl in first base ran around the diamond. But everyone else—including Ami—just stared in awe at the ball as it flew away.

Only when Minori finished her lap did the girls cheer for her, while all the guys simply shook their heads.

Sadly, the next girl to bat was also a straight out, but what Minori had done couldn’t be taken away by anyone.

The first inning ended two to zero in favor of the girls, and Ami had the feelings the guys wouldn’t recover from this one.

“That one was also for you, Amin!” Minori shouted as the teams switched places again. Ami turned to face her again, but this time, when she stared at Minori’s fully-teethed smile, at her cheerful eyes and her red hair bouncing as she jogged, she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

She smiled and gave a fist bump towards Minori, who returned it.

She wasn’t quite sure what was going on within her right now, but something was obvious: Seeing Minori in her turf was most definitely one hell of a sight.


	6. Chapter 6

Minori took a deep breath.

She leaned forward, relaxed a bit her back, and read the signs the catcher gave her. Once back up, she looked at him and smiled.

The sounds of the field around her were calming. Her teammates, now a bit sweaty thanks to the growing heat and the running around, breathed and talked among themselves as they readied for the pitch.

This would be her last pitch, no matter what. Things had relaxed a bit after that first inning, though not so much that any player had let their guard down.

There was one player on second base. The batter had two strikes and three balls. The boys’ team had five runs in, while the girls’ had six. If this batter managed to pull it off, they’d end up with seven points. And while Minorin trusted her teammates, she also knew that was no excuse to slack off. She could end things right here, right now.

And yet, that pressure seemed like a joke when compared to the pair of eyes focused on her from the other side of the protective fence. Ami had been watching Minori through the entire game. _Only_ Minori.

She didn’t fully know what to make of that. Ami had said she was curious, but… She seemed to only care for one person. Sure, they were friends, but when standing on the side, Ami had looked decisively bored. Now, though? When Minori looked at her from the corner of her eye, Ami was indeed staring at her almost unblinking.

There was a thrill to that. To knowing the girl every other guy in the field wanted her to look at had chosen to put her attention on her. And of course, there was pressure. If Minori messed up, Ami would see it firsthand.

But she hadn’t messed up until this point, she wouldn’t do it now. One pitch. Just one pitch.

_Watch closely, Ami. He’s going down._

She pitched. Her arm felt light, her muscles were far more relaxed than they had been moments before, and in her mind she could see the line the ball would follow before hitting the glove. She let go of the ball and the batter swung.

A second of pure silence followed. The batter didn’t move.

He’d missed.

“Strike three! Out!” The umpire called.

The team cheering began. A small crowd had gathered around the field, and those supporting the girls joined in. The girls all walked to Minori, praising and thanking her. Minori smiled and received all the compliments with humility. But even within the circle of teammates, her eyes were drawn to Ami, who still stood alone behind that fence.

There was a look of satisfaction in her face. Their eyes met, and Ami stood very still. Minori beamed at her, raising a thumb.

Ami smiled back. A real smile. For some reason, seeing that made all the effort Minori put into this game worth it.

Yusaku walked up to her after managing to break the circle of girls. “Well played Kushieda, this was a fun one.”

“That hit in the third inning was wild,” Minori took his hand as he offered it, “I kinda messed up that one.”

“Don’t say that, it was a mighty fine pitch, give me a little credit will you?” He smiled. Minori chuckled. “Still, that was nothing compared to that home run. It was crazy.”

Minori nodded. “I don’t know what drove me to do it, but I just… _knew_ I could pull it off, you know?”

“Ah, you might just be a prodigy, Kushieda. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need a shower,” Yusaku said while wiping his forehead. It had gotten rather hot and, in fact, Minori could also use a bit of washing. As the girls and boys began to argue over the game—mostly friendly banter, though some of the guys seemed particularly upset at having failed in front of Ami—Minori walked to where Ami was standing. She wiped the sweat off her face with her arm and smiled as she approached.

“Was I great or what?” she asked with pride.

“I didn’t know you could be both a great pitcher and a batter,” Ami said. There was a soft smile in her face, a weird expression, hard to read.

Minori laughed. “You’re exaggerating,” she said. “And it depends on the specific rules for a league, but normally pitchers aren’t that good batters, if they even do it.”

Ami cocked her head. “I won’t lie, I have no idea of how those things work.”

“It’s fine,” Minori said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I practice both, and am considered an asset as such, but you can harm your hands more easily while batting which is a problem for pitchers. I’ll probably have to end up picking one over the other if I ever go pro.”

“I-I see…” Ami’s smile suddenly looked a bit crooked. “S-so, what do you prefer?”

“I love both, really. Pitchers get a bit of a spotlight, but batters can also be the heroes of a game, you know? It’s complicated,” she sighed. Considering her future was harder than she’d expected. “There are some cases of players that do both, though, so maybe I can try it… But if I _have_ to choose, I guess I’d stick with batting.”

Ami nodded slowly. “I see. Is it hard, batting?” Her eyes shifted, and she got a particularly curious look. Like she was really interested in that topic specifically.

“Well, you have to try it to find out! It’s a matter of practice, of course.” Minori did swinging motions.

“Don’t bats have an impact on it?” Ami asked.

“I mean, it’s the batter, not the bat, really,” she explained. “Though I guess having your own bat, always consistent, makes practicing easier.”

“Ah, that’s a relief,” Ami sighed as if she’d been worried. Minori cocked her head. A relief? Ami noticed this, for she quickly stood up straighter “Sorry, my mind’s everywhere right now. And the bats at school? Are they good?”

The question was a bit weird, though Minori could understand having a bit of curiosity over that.

“I’d say so,” she said. “Haven’t given me any problems, at least.”

Ami hummed. “I see. So you don’t really need your own bat,” she spoke with a serious voice, looking up for a moment, considering something within her own head.

“Not really, no,” Minori accepted. “But I wouldn’t mind having my own either. It’d feel nice, I think.”

“I guess it would,” Ami said. “Not that not having it stopped you from hitting that home run or the pitches later,” she smiled. “You were great.”

“Yeah, yeah, you already said it. So, what do you think? Did this satiate your curiosity?” Minori walked around the fence to look at Ami directly.

Ami took a second to answer, but a satisfied smile settled on her lips and she spoke with a knowing tone. “I did get what I was looking for, so I’d say yes.”

“What’s that mean?” Minori frowned, confused.

“Oh, nothing important. Right now, though, I’m going to throw some words of encouragement at the guys, don’t want to leave them feeling too bitter about this,” she said with a confidence only she could have as she stepped towards the people on the field. “I’ll be going after this, so… see you tomorrow!”

Minori smiled and waved as Ami walked to the guys to lift their spirits.

What she was looking for? What had she meant with that? She had only looked at Minorin for most of the game, but she was obviously speaking in a figurative manner.

Or was she? The idea made Minori… a bit uncomfortable.

No, she had to mean something else. Inspiration for something. Maybe the wish to play. Or some other abstract thing.

Yet, as Minori began to walk towards the changing rooms and the showers, she couldn’t help but remember the intensity of Ami’s stare on her through the entire game.

Ami smiled as she walked into her house, dropping her shoes and putting on her slippers. She had finally gotten a clear answer to what she wanted. She’d get Minori a bat. She’d just get one similar to the ones at school so that she wouldn’t have to worry too much about it, and then everything would be fine. She walked up to her room and set her things down, sitting on her bed and feeling strangely warm inside.

Man, Minori had been amazing. Even now, when she closed her eyes, Ami could picture her. The moment where she pointed at the sky with her bat. The way her body flowed when she pitched. How the practice uniform of the school matched her hair and it looked better on her than on anyone else. The way her sweat sparkled in the sunlight when she moved…

 _Wait,_ she paused her own train of thought, not liking where it was going. But it was too late: She had already felt a bit of a tug in her chest. She rolled her eyes. She was just growing excited because she’d finally gotten a good grasp of her stupid gift idea.

Maybe the gift would bring down the wall between them. They had never been great friends, but circumstances had made it so they ended up being close anyways. Ami had been only trying to mess with Taiga at first, but then she had actually fallen for Ryuji. He was nice, fairly attractive, and he had seen through Ami in a way no-one else had. But Ami had been blinded to his flaws back then, and by the end of it all she’d been bitter and angry at him.

After that night with Minori, though, she’d let go. Her crush had vanished in the air, along with most of her negative feelings. She was still hurt, of course; feelings weren’t that simple. But there had been a big relief for her. She’d even told Ryuji how she felt, in the end, and that had given her closure.

The same night Ami had finally been able to let go, though, Minori was _crushed._ Ryuji and Taiga leaving with all of her savings? It was a wonder the girl didn’t jump off a bridge. Luckily, the couple of idiots had the decency of not spending Minori’s money, but the psychological blow had already been delivered.

“If you trip in life, your cry,” Ami whispered. She’d made fun of Minori for that. She’d tried to make the situation a bit lighter, for her sake. Minori was strong. Stronger than Ami. She’d actually allowed others to see her for who she was, and when she’d been hurt from it, she’d let Ami see her weakness.

Why Ami? Because there was no-one else at the moment. Ryuji and Taiga were a no-go, and she was good friends with Yusaku but he was still Ryuji’s best friend.

Even then, it had been Ami who’d seen that.

She stood from bed, going to the kitchen to fetch some snacks and a drink. All her thoughts seemed to swirl around Minori lately. It wasn’t so bad that it affected her life in a meaningful way, but she was starting to notice the trend. But now she could get that damn bat and let it go. She’d start treating Minori as a normal friend and then she could maybe focus on having a really fun last year of high school. She’d try to make friends with more people, try to go out with Maya and Nakano some more. Maybe she’d even take the time to go see one of Minori’s matches with other schools… with the bat she’d gift her!

The idea made Ami smile. What if Minori scored a home run with that? It’d be kind of exciting. One could say any and all home-runs scored with that bat would be dedicated to Ami. Would Minori be thankful? Would she smile? She smiled a lot when playing. She’d directed a lot of those smiles towards Ami today. She looked so damn cute when smiling—

Ami shook her head and grabbed a drink, then quickly went back to her room and got out her school stuff to begin doing homework. Minori’s gift wasn’t a priority, and this homework was due tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Ami Kawashima didn’t have confidence issues.

The last time she’d had something like that had been due to the stalker that had messed up her entire life the previous year. However, not only had that been an external, potentially very dangerous situation, it had also been a direct backfire of the quality of Ami that brought about this confidence: Her beauty.

It was incredible, really. Heads turning to her on the street, even if many of them probably didn’t know she was a model. Almost everyone who knew her respected her at some level. Guys treated her like a deity. Girls wanted to get close to her in their own ways or the opposite, hating her silently. She didn’t get bullied: No-one would risk the backlash. If one person tried it, ten would jump in her defense.

But right now she was faced with a crisis.

She couldn’t look at Minori’s eyes at all.

As Wednesday morning came, Ami entered the classroom normally. But when Minori greeted her, Ami had to pause. Minori looked the same as always. Of course she would, nothing had changed.

But when Ami tried looking at her smiling face, she got hit with a wave of warmth that made her _really_ uncomfortable, so she brushed off the greeting and sat quickly, glad the redhead didn’t turn to chat.

 _You’re being really subtle here,_ Ami chastised herself.

As she waited for homeroom period to begin, she brought out her notes. “Hey, Amin,” Minori turned to her. Ami did an acknowledgement grunt while pretending to check her homework. “Can I copy your homework?”

The question shocked Ami. She looked up for a second, met Minori’s red, intense, ~~beautiful~~ serious eyes and looked back down. “Sure, I guess. Didn’t you do yours?”

“I was a bit distracted by the game yesterday, then I had to work…” Minori chuckled. “And I completely forgot.”

Sighing, Ami gave Minori her notebook while taking out another. Minori didn’t thank her, instead focusing fully on copying. She was fast, too, as Ami could hear the frantic scratches of the pencil. She kept making weird noises as she copied, as if it was some exciting activity, but that was just part for the course with Minori.

Ami looked up, at Minori’s back. She sometimes threw around an exaggerated movement to complement her weird sounds, like flailing her arm or making a big deal of putting down a dot. Her hair fluttered and flared with each of those movements, and it was clear that she was trying to pump herself up.

How did she do it? Always so optimistic. Not only that. Always so _genuinely_ optimistic. Even in her darkest moments she genuinely tried to be happy. It was a strange quality for someone to have. Ami, who rarely left things faze her, had trouble understanding how that even worked.

She shook her head. She was getting distracted by Minori again. She had her homework, though, so it was natural to pay attention to that. Right? Why was she even trying to justify it? She was just looking, there was nothing weird about-

Minori turned with a big smile on her face. Ami instantly looked down again. That _damned_ smile…

“Thanks a lot!” Minori spoke with high energy.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome. I won’t take responsibility if something’s wrong, though,” Ami replied in a distinctly nonchalant tone, focusing on the writing of her other notebook, which at the time looked like meaningless drabbles to her.

A couple minutes later the homeroom teacher came, and classes for the day started.

Minori Kushieda had trouble focusing.

Like a sixth sense, she could sometimes feel a strange tingling on her back. This was incredibly distracting. Not because she didn’t know what it was. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

She was one hundred percent certain the feeling was Ami’s eyes nailed on her. She had, after all, grown used to it in the game the day prior. But it wasn’t just that. As the day advanced, Minori would feel that stare, and she’d turn around to only barely catch a glimpse of Ami’s hair doing a small flicker from the quick motion of her having looked down or to the side quickly.

Was she overthinking? Was she paranoid? It couldn’t be that. Could it? What had it meant? What Ami had said yesterday…

Minori paused. She’d lied to Ami earlier. She hadn’t done her homework because she’d been stressing over this. But she didn’t need to. Ami had probably meant something random. But why? Why couldn’t Minori focus? She wasn’t going to let this happen again. It was just the second week of the year. Things couldn’t start complicating so much. Plus, she had work again today. Yesterday she’d almost messed up her deliveries. Today’s work was at the ramen parlor, she needed to take that seriously.

 _Focus on what I can see,_ she repeated this mantra to herself multiple times a day. Her works, her passion, her studies. Those three things were the only things she needed to worry about.

Yet, when lunch time came about, Minori couldn’t resist temptation. She turned around as soon as the bell rang and smiled at Ami. “Hey, wanna fetch Takasu and Kitamura and eat lunch together?” The smile wasn’t a bluff, though: she did like the idea. And maybe, with those two around, she’d bring down Ami’s guard and she’d slip up on the info Minori so desperately wanted to hear about.

Ami sighed. “Even if I refuse, you’d just bring them over, wouldn’t you?” she began to look up with a deadpan, but before she met Minori’s eyes she paused and pretended to nonchalantly look out the window. Minori pointedly ignored Ami’s obvious uncomfortable attitude towards her today.

“Of course!” Minori exclaimed.

“Then what’s the point of asking?” Ami shook her head, but Minori didn’t pay attention to that because she’d already stood. She walked as fast as she could and visited the next two classes. Ryuji allowed himself to be dragged, and Yusaku tried to argue that he had something to do but Minori was having none of that at the moment.

She led them both to the classroom, where Ami had already taken out her lunch and was eating without them. Minori set up a couple of desks and soon the four of them were eating together.

“It hasn’t been that long, but it really feels like this is the first time in a while that we do this, isn’t it?” Yusaku said after a moment.

“Don’t get corny,” Ami rolled her eyes.

“I agree with him, though,” Minori nodded in approval. “This is nice,” she began eating, but that didn’t stop the little pang of sadness that hit her. “I just wish…” she trailed off.

“Taiga was here?” Ryuji asked. Minori looked at him, and he had the sad but accepting expression he wore whenever the Palmtop Tiger came up. Sometimes, Minori wondered if her expression would be the same, should she allow her emotions out like she once had.

“Yeah.”

Ami groaned. “God, you’re all so hung up on her. She’s not dead, damn it, she’s just away in some bullshit self-discovery pilgrimage or whatever is going on with her,” she complained. “Can we _not_ bring her up every time we’re together, please?”

Minori threw her a knowing smile. “You act tough but I know you miss her too.”

Ami laughed. “Please! Don’t project,” she looked out the window, clearly avoiding her gaze.

“Oh, I heard you guys had a game yesterday, how was it?” Ryuji asked looking at Yusaku and Minori, clearly wanting to change the subject. The question seemed to catch Ami’s attention, because she subtly angled her head to listen better.

“It was fun,” Yusaku said. “Kushieda is one hell of a player.”

“You weren’t half bad yourself, for one that hasn’t been practicing all that much,” Minorin nudged him with her elbow. “Have you been practicing in secret?”

“Oh no, you’ve discovered my secret plan to become the ace in the hole for the team!” Yusaku acted shocked.

“Aha, that’s why you were batting so well!”

“Guys, don’t yell, please,” Ami intervened.

“What did you think of our performances, Ami?” Yusaku asked her.

Ami seemed taken aback by the question. “They were fine, I guess,” she threw a quick glance at Minori, but quickly shrugged and looked out the window again. “Minorin was clearly the better, though.”

“That she was,” Yusaku nodded.

Minori got a bit flustered at the praise. “Oh, you guys, it was a silly out-of-nowhere thing for fun, don’t take it so seriously,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Yeah, something you set up for Ami here,” Yusaku said. “Pretty impressive, honestly. The guys were all depressed after they lost in front of her.”

Ryuji cocked his head. “For Kawashima?”

“Yeah!” Minori nodded. “She said she wanted to check practice out so I organized a game! That way, she got to experience, at least in part, the magic of true softball!”

“Oh, right,” Ryuji said, seemingly interested, but not surprised. “Did you find out what you wanted?” He looked at Ami, whose face became one of surprise at the question.

“None of your business,” Ami replied, glaring at him.

Minori took the chance. “Wait, so you know what she was looking for?” She asked with narrowed eyes. “I can tell you she found it. Together we can make a whole, Takasu!”

Ryuji looked at Minori with the same surprise Ami had just shown. “That’s… Great! Uhm…” he eyed the blue-haired beauty, whose glare had sharpened. “But I think it’s up to Kawashima to decide whether she wants to share the info or not, heh…” he looked at his bento and ate a sausage while not so subtly averting his eyes from both Minori’s and Ami’s gazes.

Minori slowly turned her face back to Ami, who pointedly acted as if she hadn’t noticed. Yusaku was giving her a curious look too. “So…?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“None. Of. Your. Business.” Ami replied, giving Yusaku that same glare. However, her eyes softened a bit when looking at Minori. “And I’ll tell _you_ later, so don’t be a pain about it,” she still didn’t meet her eyes, though.

That was enough, for now. Minori relaxed a bit, internally satisfied that she’d managed to make this silly ploy work… on some level, and the conversation naturally steered towards more mundane topics.

The back of her mind wasn’t so satisfied, though. She kept wondering what Ami meant. Why had she talked to Ryuji about it first? What did it have to do with softball? Or was it something directly tied to Minori? Ryuji had liked Minori, in the past. That surely didn’t have anything to do with it, right?

Whatever the answer, Minori did her best to try and not think about it. She’d get it soon enough. And the fact that Ami had promised to tell her did help. It probably wasn’t such a big deal anyways.


	8. Chapter 8

The bat in front of Ami screamed ‘Minori’.

Over the past week, she’d managed to gather some extra info she needed to buy Minori her gift. From the specific type the school used to some actually relevant info about how the guys thought she might prefer hers one day. It was incredible, really, the info she could gather if she just put the right face and pretended to be slightly dumber than she really was.

But it was worth it. In front of her, now, she had a bat that she’d asked the guys at the sports store for. It was basically the same as the ones they used in schools, only of a better quality and far, far more expensive. Mostly white, with a red pattern of long lines and circles on the main body and the brand written in slick black letters from the handle upwards, Ami could _see_ Minori wielding it.

Sure, she’d been to seven sports stores in the past three days to finally find one she was satisfied with, but she knew it was worth it when she saw this one.

Now she just hoped she was doing it right. But being insecure about her gift now would mean the last week of her life had been wasted so instead of doing that, she doubled down on her decision and told the store employee that she was going to take it with a matching carrying bag that she’d also gift to Minori. She didn’t even check the price: She just went in with her credit card and prayed to the gods that she have enough money left in this month’s budget to go to a hundred-yen store and buy a bunch of cheap-ass snacks to survive until her next payment.

When she exited the store, she paused. The bat hung on her back and it took a second to fully process what she’d just done.

People on the street outside walked around her, throwing some annoyed looks in her direction. That only happened, of course, because she was in full disguise that day. She wore baggy pants that made her legs bigger than they were, an oversized hoodie that covered her completely, a stupid anime mask and a pair of plain shaded glasses. She’d even let her bangs down to get an extra layer of camouflage.

All of it to buy a gift. Because of course, if people saw _the_ Ami Kawashima buying a softball bat, they’d wonder if she had gotten into the sport of something. Word _would_ get around and Minori’s surprise would be ruined. The only person who knew Ami had bought something was the employee, and thanks gods he had no idea who Ami was.

She began her walk back to the station. It was only ten minutes, but the heat was starting to really affect her thanks to the hoodie. What she did for the sake of a stupid gift! Yet, as stupid as it was, it made her… giddy. She couldn’t help imagine the face Minori would put. Disbelief, maybe? Confusion. Gratitude? Then she’d look at Ami and she’d be like ‘Thanks a lot Amin, you’re the best!’ and she’d probably try to throw herself at her.

Or maybe not. She did that with Taiga. With Ami things were different. The closest thing to that they did was when Ami put an arm around her shoulders, sometimes, to make a point or when Minori did it to save Ami from an uncomfortable situation by dragging her away.

Then again, this could change that. It was bad for Ami to think this, but she was certain this would be one of the best gifts the redhead had gotten. Minori would be excited. If that barrier was broken… If that happened Ami would be truly satisfied. Gifts weren’t the way to solve relationships, not normally. But this? This was the only way she could see progress. A genuine show of regret.

Regret what, exactly? Their fights? How Ami had intervened and hurt Minori in the process, despite her intentions being roughly the opposite? Her failure to try to properly talk things out up until now? Yes; the answer to all of those questions was yes.

As Ami stepped into the station to wait for the train, she couldn’t help but wonder, yet again, if this was overkill. A grand gesture that in reality could mean little; an expensive gift in substitution for a real human conversation. Maybe Minori would see it as lazy. Ami gifting her this bat because she liked softball instead of something else, more personal. Or her showing a lack of interest by buying something for her without asking.

“You’re definitely overthinking this,” Ami said to herself.

But she couldn’t help it. She…

She cared.

It was hard to admit it, even to herself. Yet it was harder to deny, particularly at that moment, where all the stress of just thinking about her stupid gift was getting her worked up. Or maybe it was just the heat.

The train finally arrived, allowing Ami to get a rest from both the hot air and her own mind. At least for a while.

Yawning, Minori delivered the paper to the kitchen and sat for a moment, rubbing her eyes.

She’d agreed to take on the late afternoon shift at Jonny’s from a co-worker who had to take care of something today, but she was starting to think maybe she had bitten more than she could chew. Along with softball practice, her work at the ramen parlor and a rather busy school day, she was starting to feel the full weight of all the hours she had been awake. With some luck, though, Ami would let her copy her homework again tomorrow. Not that Minori didn’t want to study, but things had just come out this way. If Ami didn’t let her—which was a possibility, it was hard to predict what mood she’d be in every day—then she could ask one of her softball club mates.

Ami… She’d been acting kinda strange this past week since the game. Not in a noticeable way, rather, it was just a mix of things that suggested it. That or Minori was getting paranoid. Either way, she shook her head. So what if Ami smiled less than usual, even while pretending to be nice, or if she spent less time with Minori, choosing to instead deal with guys or chat with her other friends. It was nothing to worry about.

Plus, there were other things more important than that! Like… Practice and studying… Even if at the moment they didn’t feel like so…

“Order ready,” the cook said, slipping a plate into Minori’s tray. Standing and quickly grabbing it, Minori wiped her head of all thoughts not relevant to serving her clients. It being Wednesday night, not a lot of people came in, so Minori and one other waitress could do the job just fine.

After delivering the order, Minori went back to her place. As she was about to sit back down, her boss exited his office and walked through the kitchen towards her. “Ah, miss Kushieda, I almost ask you what you’re doing here,” he said. He was a slim, short old man with white hair and a suit that was once elegant but now looked outdated and worn. He was also a decent boss. “Did you switch places with miss Yoshida or will you still be doing the Sunday shift?”

“I’ll report for duty first thing on Sunday, sir!” Minori said with excitement.

“Ah, good, good, youngsters should make good on their youthful energy and work hard,” he smiled with nostalgia. “I wouldn’t be here today if not for all those hours I spent working while in high school…” his eyes got glassy, as if he were looking at another time. He often got like this when talking to his employees. After a moment, he snapped back to reality. “Keep working hard, Kushieda, and you’ll reach the sky,” he nodded approvingly before walking around the bar. “See you on Sunday, have a good night,” he said his goodbye and exited through the front door.

Minori did a quick respectful nod towards him before he left, and then she proceeded to sit back down. She agreed with him on the part about work. Mostly. With another yawn, she checked the clock. Still half an hour until they closed, and then another half hour to finish the cleanup before leaving…

Ryuji Takasu was trying really hard to not be hated.

This year had been considerably easier on him than the previous one, luckily, but even if most of his classmates up until now had accepted he was a normal person and not a delinquent, there was still one aspect of his life most others—particularly the other guys in class—seemed to resent.

He was ‘close’ friends with Ami Kawashima.

The blue haired model now sat in front of him, secretly showing him a photo of the bat she’d bought for Minori the day prior. He had to admit, it looked nice, and it had probably cost a fortune. “It’s pretty cool, I’m sure Kushieda will love it,” he said.

_‘Look at him all chummy with her…’_

_‘Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?’_

_‘Cut it out, he’s gonna hear you.’_

Ryuji pretended not to have heard them, of course, but Ami definitely noticed his shifting expression.

“Ugh,” she kept her neutral smile, but her voice sounded annoyed. “Sorry about this, I got used to our previous year’s classmates not being a bunch of assholes,” she said in a low voice. “Anyways, so you think this will be fine?”

“I’m sure she’ll like it, but are you sure this is the best way?” Ryuji said, trying to ignore the stupid comments from the others.

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t you just… talk to her?”

“We’ve gone over this,” Ami gave him a flat look.

“I know, I just think you’re exaggerating. I’m sure if you sat down and simply talked it out—”

“Thanks for the advice,” Ami stood, shoving the bat’s photo in her pocket, and smiled. “You’ve been great help, Takasu,” she turned to leave.

“Hey, wait! You can’t just ignore me!” Ryuji complained. A futile effort, for Ami did in fact ignore his every word and exited the classroom without pause. He sighed, wondering what had even been the point of coming to talk with him. It was obviously a good gift, there’d been no need to ask.

Maybe Ami was a bit nervous? But what did she have to be nervous for? It was just a gift. Also something far better suited to Minori than the dumb hairpin Takasu had wanted to give her for Christmas. Minori had liked it, sure, but at the time she’d thought it’d come from Taiga…

He shook his head, sighing. Last year had been way too complicated, and he really shouldn’t think about Taiga right now. He did wonder how things would be going for her…

Ami was about to sit down when she spotted that Minori had her eyes closed and was dozing off.

It had been a bit strange when this morning she had once again asked her for her homework. Of course, Ami hadn’t hesitated to give it to her, but when she’d asked, Minori had told her she was a bit tired from her shift yesterday. As far as Ami understood it, she had worked in the ramen thing. Maybe they were working her to the bone since she’d be fired soon anyways?

It was possible, though Ami knew if she asked Minori would come up with some excuse. Alternatively, maybe Minori was just tired like everyone was once in a while… But that sounded as likely as a spaceship suddenly crash-landing in the front yard of the school.

Ami extended her hand, softly placing it in Minori’s shoulder. She hesitated for a moment. The redhead looked relaxed and at ease. Would it hurt to leave her be? Ami examined her features more closely. She would never admit it aloud, but she considered Minori to be one of the prettier girls she’d met, and she knew a fair number of models. A big part of it stemmed, probably, from her attitude. It was hard to not warm up to someone who almost always smiled and tried to be upbeat and cheerful.

After a moment, though, she shook Minori gently. “Minorin, hey, are you ok?”

Minori’s eyes opened and darted around in disorientation for a moment. “Oh, sorry, was I asleep?”

With some worry, Ami retreated her hand, crossing her arms. “You’re exhausted. Do you want to go to the nurse’s office to take a nap?”

Minori shook her head. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I was a tad tired, is all.”

Ami wasn’t convinced. She eyed her friend with skepticism, and even as she was doing it, Minori blinked so slowly that it almost looked like she was about to fall over. “You’re still tired, come on, don’t act tough. I’ll take notes for you, go tell the nurse you feel bad.”

“Nah, I promise I’m fine,” she beamed and gave Ami a thumbs up. Of course, that only worried Ami more, but… what could she do? Force Minori to go?

“Ok, but if I see you doze off again I’ll kick your ass there, got it?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Geez, you sound like Taiga,” Minori chuckled nervously. After seeing the relentless stare from Ami, though, she nodded weakly. “Ok, ok, I got it.”

Satisfied, Ami sat in her place. Then she realized she’d been able to mostly stare at Minori without any issues. Was about time! She wasn’t even sure what had been holding her back from it before. Maybe having finally bought the gift fixed her.

Or not, for when Minori turned to her she once again had trouble meeting her eyes. This time, though she forced herself to meet them, ignoring the stupid lightness that spread through her body. “Thanks for waking me, though.”

“I’m serious in saying that you should go to the nurse’s office. And you should tell your boss to not work you so hard.”

Minori smiled. She always did that. Why, and how, did she react to everything with a smile? Whether she was sad, angry, annoyed, or whatever. Her first reaction was to smile. Always. “Sorry, this doesn’t always happen, I promise. Yesterday was just a busy day. Thanks for worrying, though.”

 _Why do I worry anyways?_ Ami thought. _If she wants to throw away her teens then let her. If she wants to work, study, train and nothing else then it’s not my damn business. If she wants to run away from feelings like that, it’s her choice to make._

God, it pissed Ami off.

“Yeah, whatever,” she said, realizing how her tone had shifted to one of anger.

Minori seemed to pick on that, and she looked a bit sad as she turned around to look to the front again. Ami sighed. Why was she so angry? It wasn’t her fault that Minori…

 _But it is._ The pressure in her chest? Like someone was squeezing her heart? How hard it was to look Minori in the eyes? How it seemed like their every interaction was tinted with an underlying tension? It all came from Ami. From her knowledge. She had tried to push Minori to act. She had _lied_ to her. Why? Why had she done that? Why had she been so hell-bent on making every one of her close friends be true to themselves? Sure, it had ended up well for Ryuji, Taiga and Yusaku.

But damn it, she knew from the second she stepped in someone would end up hurt. And Minori was that person. She’d tried to make herself feel better by telling Ryuji about it, but in the end, she’d been obtuse and even if he’d been a dense moron, she hadn’t really done anything other than speak cryptically to him. She’d been so fed up with not even being able to partake in the stupid love triangle that…

The bell for the end of break rang, and Ami closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Enough. She’d gone over the events of the previous years so many times already. What good would another look do?

She… wanted to apologize to Minori. That was it. Maybe then, maybe if Ami allowed Minori to take off some of that weight she carried on her shoulders…

Maybe, just maybe, the burden weighing down Ami herself would be lifted too.


	9. Chapter 9

“Ami? You’ve been awfully quiet today,” Nanako tilted her head towards Ami, a bit of worry in her voice as they walked outside of the café they always visited.

Ami sighed. “Sorry, I’m just a tad tired thanks to what I had to do yesterday,” she’d only told Maya and Nanako that she’d gone out to run some errands. In the end, she hadn’t found a good enough situation to go with them while also looking for the gift. Now that was done, though, and she was with them because she already had that sorted out.

But all this Minori stuff had her on the verge of snapping.

No reason to focus on that, not right now. She was with her friends, having a good time. That was all she needed to know to be happy right now. Even then, as they walked down the street and towards the station, dodging the people around them, many of whom were distracted by Ami, she could feel that feeling dragging her down. The need to do something about it but not knowing what. Or rather, knowing what she should do but the unwillingness to do it. Fear.

“Girls, would you mind if I just…” Ami tried to excuse herself, but instead she took a deep breath. “If we go back there and talk for a moment?”

Maya paused, turning with a curious look. “You seem pretty serious.”

Nanako mirrored her expression.

Nodding, Ami dropped her façade and allowed her uncertainty to show in her face. “I want to tell you something, if you don’t mind.”

They exchanged a look, but then slowly nodded and smiled encouragingly. “Sure, Ami. We’re your friends, after all,” Nanako said.

Ami knew that. She just hoped they wouldn’t be too mad she’d been ditching them these last few days for something so stupid. She just needed to talk about it with someone outside of those who had been directly involved.

Making a hundred and eighty degree turn, they went back to the café. The owner raised an eyebrow when he saw them get in again. Other than that, the others who noticed Ami going back in didn’t seem displeased about it.

Minori finished her deliveries for the day in record time. She’d been tired but that had only been more of a motivator. Now she’d go home, do her homework, eat something quick and then she’d sleep enough to make up for her lost hours the previous night. She had an early morning for practice tomorrow, after all.

She was on her way home when, to her surprise, a face she knew fairly well turned the corner. Blue haired, scary eyes, Ryuji looked distracted as he checked a list with one hand and carried a bag full of groceries in the other. “Hey Takasu!” Minori waved with energy.

He blinked confused until he found her among the other people on the narrow street. When they were close enough, he raised the hand with the paper as a greeting. “Hey Kushieda. Didn’t expect to find you here.”

“I’m usually mid-shift around this time, but I had a good day today,” Minori smiled. “You don’t often come here, though.”

“I heard there was a sale going on around here, and I wanna take advantage of it, so I took a detour,” he explained.

Minori hit the palm of her hand with a fist. “Ah, I saw the little market with the sales,” she explained, pointing behind her. “It’s right around that corner.”

“Ah, kinda hidden, thanks for the help,” he nodded. “Ever since we went for a no-chicken policy last year I’ve seen so many offers come and go and it’s been so harsh…” he seemed to be speaking to himself.

Minori eyed him. He had barely changed since they’d first met, in many ways. But he had also changed a lot in so many others. While in the past he’d always had this quiet intensity—that contributed to the perception people had of him—he nowadays looked far more relaxed. He was more sure of himself too, and he no longer looked at the ground whenever walking around. How much of that had been thanks to Taiga?

“Oh, sorry, I went on a ramble there,” Ryuji interrupted her thoughts. “Well, you seem kinda tired, so I won’t bother you…”

“Hey, Takasu?” Minori interrupted him.

“Huh?”

“You haven’t heard anything from Taiga, have you?”

His face instantly darkened. “No.”

Minori nodded. “Sorry for bringing it up, I just worry.”

After a second, he went back to normal and sighed. “It’s fine. I’m sure if something happened to her we’d hear about it.”

“Yeah,” she smiled. It felt like a sad smile. It probably looked like one. “Anyways, I’ll leave you to your buying. See you tomorrow at school?”

“Yeah,” he looked at the sky. “I think rain was announced, so be sure to bring an umbrella.”

Minori looked up. The sky didn’t have a single cloud on it. “It certainly doesn’t look like it, but I’ll keep it in mind,” she said. “See you, Ryuji.”

He seemed surprised at her using his first name. But then again, after everything they’d been through, weren’t they close enough to be on first-name terms? “Sure. See you, Ku- Minori.”

She turned around after a wave and began her walk to the station. Thinking about Taiga had soured her mood a bit. She… missed her. So much. Taiga was her best friend. Even today, no-one had been as important to Minori as Taiga had. No-one with whom to share her secrets. Even after that rift had been created between them with Taiga’s family situation, she’d been Minori’s closest confidant.

And then Ryuji had swooped in and stolen her from Minori.

Sometimes, Minori wondered why she didn’t hate them. The two of them together had broken her heart in so many pieces that she didn’t think she’d ever recover from the damage done.

But it hadn’t been their fault. It had been Minori’s. And she had to deal with it.

Still, sometimes, it was hard to ignore the little gaps that seemed to be missing. The pieces she hadn’t managed to pick up. Would she ever get them back? Probably not. They’d heal, with time.

Sometimes, though, Minori wished time passed on a bit faster.

Ami eyed her friends with some uncertainty. She’d just finished her story of most of the inside stuff that had happened between her, Ryuji, Minori and Taiga. Well, Yusaku had been there too, but… Yeah.

Maya and Nanako were processing. For once, they hadn’t sat in the window, as Ami had wanted to see their faces as she spoke. They were looking at Ami with serious expressions, understanding that Ami had only told them this because she trusted them. A part of Ami wondered if it was a mistake: What if they went around telling the story? What if the school found out Ami had liked Ryuji? As if the guy didn’t have enough problems just being her friend.

But no. Maya and Nanako were a bit gossipy but they’d never do that.

“Wow, that’s… a lot,” Maya was the first to speak. “I can’t believe you liked Takasu.”

“I know, right?” Nanako shook her head in disbelief.

“And all the stuff with Minori, I’m kinda surprised you’re still friends at all,” Maya took a sip of her tea. She’d gone for that over the coffee this second round. “But I guess that also shows just how good a person you are, eh?”

Nanako nodded in agreement, but Ami just felt like the praise was undeserved. “I’m not good. I was just acting on my own selfishness,” she explained.

Her two friends exchanged a look. “So… you wanted Minori to get with the guy you liked… because you were selfish?” Nanako asked.

Ami blinked. “I mean, when you put it _that_ way… But it’s simplifying it too much,” she shook her head, trying to remember what was going on through her head at the time. “I just wanted to be proven right. Minori’s personal feelings were irrelevant to me.”

Maya raised an eyebrow. “Really? Ami, we know you can sometimes be a bit… cold, but you’re the tough love kind. I’m sure Minori sees it that way too.”

_‘My mind is clear!’_

“I think you missed the part where she also blames me for her hurt feelings,” Ami said.

Nanako rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t blaming you, silly,” she explained. “In fact… Don’t you think she wanted you to know she was doing fine despite you stepping in?”

 _It didn’t feel like that,_ Ami recalled the moment. She’d tried to run, but Minori had made sure to tell her how she felt anyways. “I wish.”

“Plus, that’s irrelevant. Even if she was a bit angry at the time, it’s pretty clear she doesn’t hold any grudges,” Maya added. “She’s probably come to realize that, in your own way, you meant good.”

“Intentions are irrelevant, I still hurt her,” Ami replied.

Nanako examined her. “Your problem is your own guilt, isn’t it?” She read through Ami like if she were an open book. “Not how Minori feels, but how _you_ feel. You regret everything that happened. That’s why you want to give her the gift.”

While Ami had told them exactly because she needed to talk about it, she also couldn’t hide the fact that she was beginning to regret where this conversation was going. “And your point is?”

“The gift is useless for that,” Maya finished her thought. “Giving it to Minori won’t make you feel better. Particularly when she’s probably not even angry at you anymore.”

Ami closed her eyes. Fucking hell. She knew they were right. Why was it so hard to admit? “That’s what annoys me.”

“Huh?”

“She’s not angry anymore,” Ami opened her eyes again, looking at her friends. “Why not? She should hate me. She should _despise_ me. She…” something seemed to make her choke on her words. “She pisses me off. She treats me like a friend. Why?” Ami looked at them. “I am the cause her two crushes ended up rejecting her. I’m the one who brought her hopes up. She lost a game, she broke the tree and Taiga’s star, she rejected Takasu, all of it because _I_ meddled.” Why was her voice so angry?

“Now, now, Ami, you’re taking it too far,” Nanako reached to put a hand on her shoulder. “You may have said things you shouldn’t but you can’t say everything is your fault.”

“And then we had that _stupid_ fight in the mountain,” Ami began to recall that cursed trip and everything gone bad in it. “She avoided me all morning. I was _so_ pissed off at how she had rejected Takasu for no reason. And she had the guts to be angry at me! And then the little brat got lost and confessed to the dense idiot on accident and…” She had made a fist, and her knuckles had gone white. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t started that fight, if I’d accepted Minori’s apology instead of…”

Maya clapped, snapping Ami out of herself. “Ami, chill out,” she said. “Blaming yourself won’t help. If you hadn’t fought, Aisaka would have still liked Takasu and Takasu would have still liked Aisaka. Minori would have still liked them both,” she said that second bit with a bit of hesitation. Not that Ami could blame her. She herself was still in doubt about the Minori-Taiga thing. “Things may have gone differently, but blaming yourself for everything is stupid, useless and you’ll just end up hurting yourself.”

“Come here,” Nanako slid her chair around the table and put an arm around Ami. “You’re a good person, Ami. You’ve made mistakes—but we all have. Don’t be so harsh on yourself.”

Ami had been panting, she realized. And having Nanako give her this sort-of-hug helped enough to calm her down. “I…” she trailed off. “If things had gone differently, maybe Minori wouldn’t have ended up with her heart so broken. Maybe she’d have confessed sooner. Maybe… maybe she’d be happy right now.”

“She can still be happy,” Maya smiled. “A rejection isn’t the end of the world.”

Right. Maya herself had been shut down by Yusaku. Sometimes Ami forgot that. “Plus,” Nanako squeezed Ami a bit. “It’s only been two months since the whole valentine’s drama. It’s pretty clear both you and Minori are still hurting, in your own ways. You won’t heal immediately. Give it some time.”

Ami took a deep breath and nodded softly. “I… You’re right. I’m sorry for shoving all of this baggage into you.”

“Don’t be stupid, that’s what friends are for,” Maya reached across the table and put her hand on Ami’s. “You can always talk to us.”

Allowing herself a weak smile, Ami looked at her friends and tried to shove down all the inadequacy she felt for how kindly they were treating her.

“For now,” Nanako said, “give her the gift. It won’t fix the issue, but it certainly can’t hurt.”

“I will,” Ami nodded.

“And then, try to talk to her,” Maya added.

“I… will,” she reluctantly nodded again.

Maya and Nanako smiled.

Ami sighed. _Give it some time,_ she repeated to herself.

If only time could go faster…


	10. Chapter 10

Friday came and went, and one thing seemed to stay true for Minori through the entire day: She was in a bad mood.

Not in a ‘I’m angry and I’ll snap at people’ bad mood. She was just… moody. Why was moody a word, anyways? Whatever.

She had been able to pay attention in class, and she’d done well in the morning practice, but even her teammates had asked if she was ok. At first Minori had thought it was a bit of a morning daze after all the good sleep she got last night, but now she could tell it was something else. Maybe her chat with Ryuji the previous day had something to do with it.

The one other person who had _definitely_ noticed, too, was Ami.

Through the day, she’d been—in her dismissive way—asking if she was ok. She tried to hide behind her veil of nonchalance, but Minori had seen past it a while ago. Still, she didn’t want Ami to worry. Minori had promised she’d stop worrying about these things, after all. A moody day once in a while was fine, she supposed. She wouldn’t have much time to brood once she was busy serving ramen anyways.

Right as Minori was preparing to leave, Ami called her. “Hey, you got any plans for golden week?”

The question, though delivered with a bored expression, seemed to take away some of Minori’s sadness. “You wanna know what my plans are?” She asked with a small smile. “That’s surprising.”

The blue haired model deadpanned. “Just tell me which days you’re free.”

Even with her nonchalance, the intent behind the question was fairly obvious. “Well, I’ve got work in the afternoon most days, but nothing else.”

Ami blinked. “Work? In the middle of Golden Week?”

The surprise was unexpected. “Why, yeah? I mean, what’s the problem? Lots of people work on holidays.”

“Yes,” Ami frowned, “but they’re also not teenagers going to high-school,” she explained. “You’re allowed a few days of rest, you know?”

“Eh, I’d rather have it this way. It’s not like we throw big parties or anything, you know?” Minori scratched the back of her head, growing a bit uncomfortable with Ami’s darkening expression.

“Don’t you have any plans? What if your family wanted to take a trip? Or if your friend asked you to hang out?”

Minori chuckled. Was Ami suggesting what she thought she was suggesting? “I’d probably just ask someone to change shifts with me.”

Ami scoffed. “Of course you would,” she said. She stood, taking her bag. “Well, have fun, see you tomorrow.”

She left so fast that Minori didn’t even have time to react to her comment. Was… was Ami angry? She seemed to be. No, she _definitely_ was. Even the others who hadn’t left yet seemed to notice, for their eyes darted from the door to Minori and back.

And the sadness came back almost instantly. Maybe worse.

 _Why is she angry? I’m just trying to get ahead,_ she thought. So what if Minori worked? That was none of Ami’s business. _She was probably going to ask you to hang out,_ Minori realized. _Not that work should have stopped her. I still had the mornings free._

But that wasn’t the point of Ami’s anger.

Minori shook her head and exited the classroom a minute later, feeling like something was off. Maybe she should call Ami and invite her to hang out one of those days. Would that help? No. Certainly, as long as Minori decided she was going to work on that day, Ami would be discontent with the situation.

It was… a kind sentiment. Also an incredibly selfish one.

Well, it was too late to worry. Just another thing to add to the pile of reasons why Ami and Minori probably shouldn’t even be friends to begin with-

“Hey, Minorin,” as she exited through the school gates, a voice surprised her. She turned to see Ami leaning against the wall, with an annoyed but serious expression. “Sorry for snapping back there.” The surprise Minori felt was reflected by her face, for Ami grew a bit red and looked away. “Don’t look so shocked!” she said. Then, after a deep breath, she looked back at her. “Do you want to do something one of these days?”

“You mean, like a date?” Minori cocked her head.

“Don’t say it like that,” Ami’s face grew a bit redder. “We’d just hang out for a bit. At which time do you have to work?”

“Uhm… depends on the day, but none of my shifts start earlier than two PM,” Minori felt a smile grow on her. Ami had actually waited for her to come out and apologize. A part of her still didn’t believe it.

“You’re an early bird, right? We can meet at ten, have lunch and then you can go work or whatever.”

Minori examined Ami a bit more carefully. Her hands were behind her back, holding her bag. Her face denoted a bit of embarrassment for the situation, as if she was forcing herself to do this. Maybe more importantly, she looked… nervous. Was she afraid that Minori would reject the offer? That was… something.

“Sure,” she replied with a nod.

“Perfect,” Ami nodded. “I’ll… tell Takasu and Yusaku to come,” she pushed off the wall and stretched.

Minori was about to nod, but then she paused. “Maybe you shouldn’t,” she said. Ami gave her a skeptical look. “It’s just a lunch, right? No need to bother them with that.”

“Minori, it’s been ages since we’ve done anything together, they’re not gonna be bothered,” Ami said. “Unless it’s got to do with Takasu?”

“It’s not like that,” Minori shook her head. But wasn’t it? She wasn’t sure. “Kitamura will probably be busy anyways, and inviting Ryuji alone to hang out with us may be a bit weird, right?” she tried to excuse herself.

Ami’s eyes sharpened. “When did you change into using ‘Ryuji’?”

“Oh, that. Yesterday, actually,” she chuckled. “We met in the afternoon and I figured it was about time we dropped the formalities, you know?”

Something flashed through Ami’s face. Minori couldn’t read what it was. “I see. Are you sure you don’t want to invite them? I’m sure they’d come.”

Spend a couple of hours with her friends. That sounded like fun. Minori wasn’t stupid enough to think she wouldn’t enjoy time with the three of them, even if things were a bit weird. No, that wasn’t the reason she didn’t want to bother Ryuji and Yusaku.

She met Ami’s eyes. “It’s ok. Let’s do it just the two of us,” she said in a serious tone.

Ami blinked, confused. “Uhm… Well, if you insist. We can talk tomorrow about the day and such, or I’ll text you, we’ll see.”

“Hey, Amin,” Minori called her before she left. “Thanks for… this. Apologizing, I mean.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’m tired of stupid drama. We should… talk things out,” she said, turning and leaving.

Talk things out. Yes. Maybe that was exactly what they needed. A long chat with Ami…

Minori looked forward to it. It felt like they hadn’t done that since… _that_ night.

Yeah. This promised to be truly interesting.

_You mean, like a date?_

Stupid Minori. Why had she said that? Why had she used the word date? And stupid Ami, who had reacted in such a childish manner. Minori had definitely noticed!

Noticed what, though?

 _Aw fuck,_ Ami paused in the middle of the street. _Fuck. Damn it._

She shook her head and continued her path, trying to not think about it. But she couldn’t. Not anymore. Now she’d realized. Fully realized. The thought had crossed her mind too loudly this time, and it was impossible to ignore or shove aside.

Ami Kawashima liked Minori Kushieda.

And it bothered her. _A lot._

There were a lot of reasons why. For starters, their relationship was already messy enough and romance had been the cause of that. Then, Minori had decided to forego romance altogether. Ami always acted dismissive towards her. It was very obvious Minori didn’t like her back, too. And a bunch of other reasons which her brain was too distracted to list right now.

And, of course the glaring elephant in the room: Minori was a girl.

What did this mean for Ami? She wasn’t gay. Was she bisexual? She had never liked a girl before. Even then, it was surprising how naturally the thought had come to her. Hell, she had realized this a while ago, hadn’t she? Maybe this was just a rebound thing. Right after being hurt by Ryuji she’d had to deal with Minori and her heartbreak. That could be an explanation.

Yeah, right.

She looked around in the street and decided to get a cab. She was _not_ going to have this existential crisis in public. She needed to get home and sit down and maybe bang her head against the wall a couple times to make sure she wasn’t just going nuts.

After calling the cab, which arrived surprisingly fast, she was able to distract herself just enough to leave all those things off her mind.

But then she reached home. As usual, her relatives weren’t there.

She proceeded to preemptively grab a bunch of snacks from her stash, retreat into her room, and then she calmly sat down.

Now, finally, she allowed herself to freak out.

“So you like her, what’s the big deal?” She told to herself. “You’re Ami Kawashima. You can like whoever you want! Boys throw themselves at your feet. I’m sure girls who like girls won’t be any different!”

Yeah, exactly! She…

Oh god she was trying to talk herself into accepting she liked a girl. _Don’t jump to conclusions, now. Maybe you’re just… No, you’ve already thought this over. Many times. You’ve been just ignoring the answer._

She’d been grappling with this idea for a while now. Since when? She’d like to say, maybe, since the softball game. But that wasn’t it, was it? It ran deeper than that. Far, far deeper. The game should have been an obvious moment of revelation for her, but if she thought about it…

Closing her eyes, she popped open a coke and took a sip. A bit of sugar would calm her down. _You pushed her to try and be with Ryuji. Why would you do that, if you wanted to be with him too? You tried to get her to be more honest with herself._

_Fucking hell. You cared. For some ungodly reason you cared._

Had she just… been attracted to her all the time? No. No, at first she absolutely hated her guts. She’d hated how easily Minori had seen through her façade. At which point had that changed? It was impossible to truly hate Minori. Even at their lowest moment, Ami hadn’t been as angry with Minori as she’d been angry at her lack of regard for herself.

_And you were pretty pissed off about her ignoring you, too._

Ami rested her back against the bed and took another sip of her soda. She should be doing homework. Or studying. Or something productive.

Instead, she could only focus on this. Minori was a girl. What did that mean? For the both of them. Ami was half certain Minori was into girls. She’d definitely been into Taiga. _‘I don’t know.’_ That had been her answer, hadn’t it?

Had she cried because Takasu took Taiga from her?

Had she cried because Taiga took Takasu from her?

Not surprisingly, Ami hoped it was both.

Which just made her circle back to her earlier question: What did this mean for her? For her shaky friendship with Minori? The question encompassed so much that it overwhelmed her. It was a question about… herself.

Ami knew herself. Or so she thought. She knew herself better than anyone else, at the very least. Minori knew her pretty well. Ryuji had seen the immaturity behind Ami’s ‘adult’ attitude. But only _Ami_ understood the reason behind her every action.

Did she?

Thinking was hard at the moment. Her brain seemed to be just focusing on this strange revelation, yet she seemed incapable of exploring its ramifications.

She was, however, able to single out one of them.

Minori.

Her face. Her smile. Her drive and determination. While her brain was in turmoil, while her emotions raged in a storm, fighting each other for dominance, thinking of Minori brought her warmth. A warmth she’d been feeling for a while now, she realized. She didn’t just want to make amends with her. She wanted to grow _closer_ to her. Ami already knew pretty much everything she _needed_ to know about Minori, and vice versa. In all their arguing and rivalry, they had come to a strange level of mutual understanding.

Ami held on to this. For all of her other emotions, the soothing feeling that came with this seemed to ground her in reality. She sighed, deciding that allowing herself to maybe fantasize a bit about Minori, for now, was a good enough way to deal with everything else.

Yeah. Just focus… on what she could see. Clear her mind of everything else. Unravel that little by little as time passed. In the meantime, she took out her phone and sent a message. _‘So, any specific place you’d like to go to? My treat.’_


	11. Chapter 11

Ami seemed distracted on Saturday.

Minori was hesitant to ask if something had happened. Yesterday they had settled things for their meeting during Monday, but other than that they hadn’t interacted much this morning. Now, Ami looked out the window while they were in class, and Minori tried to subtly look back at her.

She looked… pensive. Something was on her mind, and her blue eyes stared at nothing specific outside. She didn’t even seem to notice Minori turning towards her. From time to time, Ami’s face changed, or she let out a bit o a sigh. She also, occasionally, smiled.

In a way, it was worrying. But also interesting. What had Ami so preoccupied? What were those smiles? She didn’t seem angry, or sad.

A part of Minori wondered if it had anything to do with their plans. Maybe Ami regretted her offer. But then again, she’d gone out of her way to do it. Minori was really happy that Ami had done that. It was, if nothing else, a confirmation that she did consider her a friend. Minori, at times, just at times, wondered if she misread Ami. Maybe Ami didn’t just act nonchalant. Maybe she really disliked Minori. Maybe she… But no. It was a passing thought sometimes, but it was things like what happened yesterday that proved Ami did care.

It wasn’t until the bell for the end of first period rang that Minori finally turned around. Not surprisingly, Ami didn’t seem to notice it.

“Amin?”

The model slowly turned her head towards Minori. She seemed to be in a daze. “Yeah?” she asked, still clearly lost in thought.

“Want me to get you something?”

It took Ami a few seconds to answer. She examined Minori. Almost scrutinized, though she didn’t seem to be searching for anything in particular. Then, with a weak smile, she nodded. “Sure. And get you whatever you want, too,” she extended her hand, giving Minori an obscene amount of pocket change.

“Ah, shoot!” Minori exclaimed, which seemed to snap Ami out of her head.

“What happened?” Ami looked at the money. “Is it wrong?”

“No, not the money,” she shook her head. “I just remembered the tip you gave me back at Jonny’s a couple weeks ago. I was meaning to give it back-” she caught herself from continuing, but it was too late, Ami was already glaring.

“Why would you give back a tip?”

“Well, I…” How to handle this conversation?

“You’re so annoying at times, I swear,” Ami shook her head.

Minori understood where she was coming from. Instead of trying to argue, she smiled and stood. “Yeah, well, it’s in the past now. I’ve probably spent the money already anyways,” she said.

“Good,” Ami looked at Minori. Yet this time it wasn’t annoyance or anger. Minori couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “Returning gifts is bad manners, after all. You’re gonna go fetch us drinks or what?”

After a moment of hesitation in which Ami didn’t stop meeting her eyes, Minori nodded and pocketed the change. “Sure. What do you want?”

Only taking a moment to consider, Ami shrugged. “Whatever you pick will do.”

Minori expected an answer like that one, so she nodded and walked out of the classroom. She greeted people she recognized on the hallways, and maybe out of instinct she went upstairs to the second-year vending machines. Not surprisingly, no-one was there.

She gave the drinks some thought. Today Ami would probably go out with her friends, so maybe she wouldn’t like a coffee now. Minori could swear she’d seen her drinking milk sometimes, but it was hard to remember any specific flavor she liked.

Maybe coffee milk?

Seemed like a safe bet.

Taking the drinks and going back to the classroom, Ami had returned to her window watching. She didn’t even notice Minori until she put the milk on her desk.

Ami looked at it with curiosity. “I know I said whatever, but I didn’t expect this,” she said as she popped open the box and took a sip.

“You like it?” Minori opened her own juice.

After swallowing, Ami’s face became one of doubt. “I’m… not a big fan.”

 _Shoot,_ Minori thought. Maybe her logic had been flawed. “Sorry, do you want my juice?” she offered.

Ami gave her a flat look. “I didn’t say I disliked it, it’s fine,” she took another sip in defiance. Then she paused, eyeing the juice. “Aren’t you going to drink it?”

“You sure you don’t want it?” Minori insisted. The narrowing of Ami’s eyes was enough of an answer. She drank some of the juice.

Ami was about to drink too, but she paused. “Maybe I’ll take your offer.”

With confusion, Minori cocked her head. “Huh?”

“If the offer’s still open, of course,” she said, pointing at the juice.

“Uhm… sure,” Minori passed the can to her, and Ami gave her the milk. Minori drank from it, and it was more bitter than she’d expected. Maybe that was the problem, Ami liked sweets.

Ami eyed the can with hesitation before putting her lips on it and drinking with methodical slowness. It was… a bit strange, and something Minori hadn’t seen her do before.

Wait… Was she blushing? “What?” Ami asked. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Uh, no,” Minori was absurdly confused. Ami seemed to act the same as always, she sure sounded the same as always, but there was this… strangeness to her. She couldn’t quite place it. “Are you ok?”

Ami choked on the juice and almost spit it. She eyed Minori with that face she usually made when she knew something others didn’t, like disbelief and annoyance mixed with a bit of arrogance. “I’m honestly a bit surprised,” she eyed the juice, “that you’re this dense.”

Dense?

Minori paused.

“I don’t get it,” she said.

Ami rolled her eyes. “It’s ok. Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

She went back to window-watching.

Minori slowly turned to look forward, suddenly feeling like if she began thinking too much, bad things were going to happen. So instead she decided to simply sip her milk and try to focus on what exercises they’d do for practice today…

What was up with Ami? She was unstable, that much was clear. One second she was annoyed at Minori, the other one her heart skipped a beat. She’d been trying all morning to not look at Minorin. As in, _really_ trying. Looking outside, too, allowed her to think.

After calming down from her revelation the day prior, she’d come to a very easy conclusion: Whether she actually liked Minori or if it was just a silly infatuation was bound to be revealed to her sooner rather than later. The Warm feeling that came from thinking of Minori, as of now, was something she’d just accept.

Yet… she eyed the now empty can of juice and nibbled at her lip a little. What was she, twelve? To get such satisfaction from a stupid indirect kiss… Kiss…

Ami closed her eyes for a second, clearing her mind. Minori was in front of her. She couldn’t be overt or she’d notice. God, what had she been thinking a few minutes ago? She’d been so obvious! Good thing Minori was dense… Assuming she really was. One of the things Minori excelled at was pretending she didn’t know how others felt. Ami suspected she was also really good at making herself believe that she didn’t know too. That side of her had played an absurdly big role in all the melodrama the previous year.

But no more melodrama for this year. No sir.

Not as long as Ami made sure these feelings didn’t get in the way of their already unstable friendship.

“Yeah, right,” she mumbled, scoffing at her own train of thought. Sure! She’d just completely ignore this stupid infatuation or whatever it was. It wouldn’t get in the way, for sure! If there was one thing she’d learnt with all the dramatic romances of the previous year, it certainly was that hiding one’s feelings always ended up nicely! No-one got hurt!

Minori turned her head ever so slightly, taking a look from the corner of her eyes. Ami pretended not to notice. Why did Minori care? Even if she had noticed, she’d certainly pretend she hadn’t. Because Ami’s feelings were complicated. Because Minori was complicated. Everything regarding that stupid redhead was overly complicated.

Ugh.

“I hate you,” Ami said from her spot between the vending machines when Ryuji happened to approach them.

“Why do you keep coming here? There’s a similar spot in the machines close to our new classrooms,” Ryuji replied, ignoring her comment.

“Why do you keep coming here? There’s vending machines closer to our new classrooms,” Ami replied.

“Fair enough,” he sighed, leaning back against the railing with his drink. “So, what’d I do now for you to hate me?”

Ami looked at him in the eyes. Would he understand? He was stupid, but not an ass. “You may want to sit down, this is going to be a shock.”

“I doubt whatever you may say could really—”

“I think I like Minorin,” Ami spat, trying not to think too much about it.

Ryuji paused, looking at her with wide eyes. Slowly, he slid down until his butt reached the floor. “Y-you don’t mean…?”

“Yes, yes I _do_ mean,” Ami said, sighing and looking down, hiding behind her legs. She was probably showing her panties to Ryuji, but he was too much of a coward to look anyways. “This is all your fault.”

“How is it _my_ fault?” He complained.

“If you were dating _her_ like you should, I would have never developed these stupid feelings. Instead you ran off with the little runt, hurt Minorin and I’m left to pick up the pieces,” Ami explained, annoyed.

“You don’t sound like you like her. You sound… angry,” Ryuji said.

“Because I am,” Ami looked up again, looking at Ryuji’s creased brow as he tried to figure out what this conversation was really about. “Because of _you_ and _Taiga_ , Minori is even more closed off to romance than she was last year! And last year she already barely wanted anything to do with romance! And I don’t even know what _I_ want, or how I _really_ feel. It’s annoying, confusing and it’s all _your_ fault for being so dense and stupid.”

She was surprised to not get much of a reaction from Ryuji. Instead, he seemed to still be dealing with what Ami had revealed. “You know, Minori once told me that she preferred girls,” he said in a low voice.

“She did?” Ami was genuinely surprised.

“Well, it was just a passing thought… I think,” he shrugged. “She said she was jealous of me.”

“Because of your relationship with Taiga?”

“Yeah,” he looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I knew it!” Ami exclaimed in a low voice, triumphant. “She did like Taiga!” Then she looked up. “Which, honestly, only makes this _her_ fault too. How could she not realize? You’re both so fucking dense.”

“Hey, don’t bring Taiga into this. How could _she_ have known? She’s not…” Ryuji paused, as if realizing he was about to say something stupid.

“Attracted to girls?” Ami raised an eyebrow, finishing the sentence for Ryuji.

“Something like that,” he took the easy way out.

“That only makes it worse, really,” Ami groaned, looking up. “I’ve known for a while now, but this is just the last bit of proof I needed. Maybe I don’t hate you so much after all,” she shook her head. “Now all I need to do is figure out myself.”

Ryuji hummed, thinking. Ami directed a bored look at him, knowing he was probably cooking some sort of advice. “Do you… want help?”

Ami raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Last year I gained some… experience, you could say, in being a wingman.”

“You mean your pitiful attempts at helping Taiga out with Kitamura?” She deadpanned.

“You knew about that?” His shock was almost funny.

“Only a blind, deaf old man wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Ok, whatever, that’s beside the point. Do you want help?” At the very least, he looked honest in his offer.

“As much as I’d appreciate a wingman, I don’t know how effective you’d be when even I don’t know what I want, Takasu… You’re in first name terms with Minorin, right? Then you should be with me too,” she changed topics.

“I’d rather not. If we suddenly start calling each other by our first names, the stupid rumors you started the other day might gain strength,” he explained.

 _Oh, right._ “Ugh, I hate teenagers.”

“You’re a teenager.”

“And your point is?” Ami looked him in the eyes.

Ryuji paused. “Nothing.”

The bell for the end of break rang. Ami stood, stretching. “How’d you know I was going to come here, anyways?” Ryuji asked.

“I didn’t. I just wanted a place to think and you happened to come by,” Ami explained. She wasn’t able to muster up enough energy to give Ryuji a teasing smile. “Thanks for the info, though. And for the offer. I’ll… think about it.”

“No problem,” he said. “And if you need to talk, well, let’s say I’ve got experience liking Minori, so I can understand,” he chuckled awkwardly. “That sounded weird.”

“Man, Taiga would beat the shit out of you for saying it like that,” Ami commented.

“Please don’t tell her,” Ryuji pleaded.

“Be sure to not tell my secret either,” Ami winked and gave him a small smile before walking ahead of him.

Well, at least she’d gained something this recess.


	12. Chapter 12

Minori checked the time in her phone. She’d arrived at Jonny’s five minutes earlier than agreed upon. She looked around, but there were no signs of Ami. They’d talked through messaging ten minutes ago, so Minori knew she was already on her way. She’d probably arrive on time or with little delay.

A date, huh. They weren’t calling it that, but there was something very… date-ish about this whole ordeal. Maybe to counter that, Minori had chosen to wear very plain clothes. This way it wouldn’t feel too important. It was just hanging out with a friend during Golden Week, nothing else…

But then, why was she so anxious?

Ami… Had been weird, on Saturday. And not only then, either. There had been something off about her for a while now. Minori had mostly ignored it, but it was starting to become glaringly obvious.

Not weird in a bad way. Or not as far as Minori could tell. But…

“You gonna stay down there all day?” Ami’s voice suddenly came from above. Minori was taken off-guard, looking up and seeing Ami’s face smiling at her from the top of the stairs. “Come on up.”

“Since when are you here?” Minori asked, beginning her climb.

“I arrived a while ago and got inside to reserve some seats for us,” Ami said, turning and entering the restaurant without waiting for her.

Minori found her attitude a bit strange, but she shrugged it off and followed. The place was surprisingly busy for a Monday, but then again, it _was_ Golden Week. Chatter and laughs could be heard around the place, and almost all tables had someone.

“Over here,” Ami called to her. She had picked a nice spot with a view of the street. The sun was high enough to not be a bother anymore. Minori approached, finding Ami’s expression—a grin—somewhat unsettling. Maybe she just really liked the festivities? She was dressed as plainly as Minori, though she wasn’t hiding like she often did when in public.

“Good morning,” Minori said as she sat in front of Ami.

“Morning. Did you have breakfast already?”

“Yeah.”

“Good then. We can start with a coffee and we’ll have lunch in a while, then. If you want,” Ami had a really strange look on her face. Like she was enjoying this, even though Minori had just arrived.

Minori felt a strange pressure in her chest. “Yeah, that’s fine,” she said, smiling back.

They chatted about menial stuff until a waitress—who Minori recognized and greeted—came to take their order. What stuck out to Minori was what Ami said _after_ her order. “Also, please bring _that._ ”

“Will do,” the waitress said, throwing a strange smile at Minori.

When she left, Minori leaned over the table and whispered. “What was that about?”

“You’ll see,” Ami winked. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

Yes, something was _definitely_ off.

When the waitress came back, she had a tray with a couple of mugs in it. Minori stared at her, surprise evident in her face. Not for the mugs, obviously: It was the bat strapped on her back that did the trick. After putting the tray down, she took the bat and handed it to Ami. “Thank you,” Ami said with a slight nod of gratitude.

“What…?” Minori looked at the bat with surprise.

Ami smirked. “Here.” She handed it to her, careful with the things on the table. “This is for you.”

Minori took it with hesitance. She looked at it with a neutral expression, processing what the hell was going on. Carefully opening the bag and sliding the bat out, she released a small breath of surprise. “Ami?” She asked, looking at her. “What… is this?”

“A gift,” Ami said, leaning back on her seat. Minori looked rather cute when being confused out of her mind.

Slowly, Minori examined the bat again. She still showed no reaction other than her surprise. “But… how much did this—”

“Asking for a gift’s price is bad manners, you know,” Ami stopped Minori’s question and took her coffee. “Come on, don’t be shy, it’s yours. Touch it, get a feel for it.”

“I…” finally, Minori gave Ami a smile. Ami had a hard time figuring out if it was a genuine smile or if it was one of Minori’s reactionary smiles. “I don’t know what to say. This is…”

“You _could_ start with a thank you, but it’s not like I care that much,” Ami teased.

When Minori’s smile widened, Ami could tell it was a genuine one. “Thanks a lot, Amin!” she said, excited, and whatever was holding her back before seemed to disappear as she began to truly _look_ at the bat. She examined every centimeter of it, looking happy as she did so.

Ami smiled. Finally, one thing she did for Minori that worked.

Minori was shocked.

Even as she looked at the white bat, with red lines spiraling across it, she found it hard to believe. She hadn’t _dreamed_ of having a bat this nice before being out of high school. The one she had was provided by school, even if she took care of it as if it had come out of her pocket. But this thing was…

And the bag, too! It looked so nice, in comparison to the black one. Would she even be allowed to take it? Truth be told, she hadn’t read rules related to this, so it was hard to tell. “I was going to wait until I got out of school and got into a more serious team to get one,” she explained. “One of the many reasons I’m saving money. Amin, this is…” she shook her head, looking at her friend, trying to convey all the gratitude she felt.

“I do have to wonder, though: Don’t you guys have a budget for buying stuff like that?”

“The equipment we buy is far cheaper than this, I assure you, and we also buy in bulk if needed. Some bring their own equipment, but not everyone is dedicated enough to buy their own, you know?”

“Ah, I see. Well, hope you enjoy the bat, then,” Ami smiled.

Minori nodded, looking at the gift. “It’s not even my birthday.”

Ami nodded with satisfaction. “Well, I wanted to do something nice for you,” she said. “Because of… all that happened. I thought it’d be a nice gesture.”

Minori put the bat back in the bag. “Ok, finish that mug, we’re leaving.”

“What?” Ami blinked.

“I’ve a new bat I need to test out!”

Ami opened her mouth as if to speak, but produced no sound and instead sighed. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. Ok, let me call the waitress.”

“Also, I’m paying,” Minori declared.

Glaring, Ami pointed at her. “No you’re not. That’s a gift, and I said I’d treat you, remember?”

“Ugh, you saw right through my reasoning, eh?”

“Drink your coffee and enjoy it,” Ami said as the waitress approached.

Minori had all but forgotten the uneasiness that had been there a while ago. Ami had completely broken any expectations she may have had for today with the gift. She even looked happy to pay despite everything.

A nice gesture… Was it really all this was? Ami tightened her grip on the bag and began working on her coffee. This date was about to take a more sporty turn.

Ami watched Minori swing in the batting cage.

She was beautiful.

Since speaking with Ryuji on Saturday, Ami had been feeling a lot more confident. As if freed from chains, something inside her head had just… clicked. And now she really did see Minori for everything she liked. How pretty she was, how toned she was. Her optimism and kindness, once annoying, were now charming. Her eccentricities just another part of the girl she liked.

Ball was thrown, Minori swung, her bat hit. Minori kept repeating the motions and the sounds, not missing a single ball. She was so talented… _Ok, stop. You like her, that doesn’t mean you have to be stupid about it._

She wasn’t going to let herself be carried away by this. If she allowed the feelings to drive her actions, then things could get messy real fast. If she was going to accept this, if she was going to allow herself to feel this, then she needed to be levelheaded about it.

First, she needed to establish a half decent relationship with Minori. A friendship that didn’t have them tiptoeing around each other. Then, maybe, she could try to bring down the barriers Minori had built around herself in regards to romance.

Assuming she even liked her by that point.

Minori finished her round of batting and came out of the cage, sweating and smiling. “The bat feels great, Amin! It’s almost like the ones we have at school, but it feels more… robust, better,” she said while looking at it. “It’s amazing.”

Seeing her so happy made Ami smile. “Glad you like it,” she stood, looking at the other batters in the place. “You did better than anyone else, by the way. You’re great.”

“Nah,” Minori chuckled. “I may have hit them all, but I only got two home runs. That guy over there got five,” Minori said.

“He’s also twice your size,” Ami pointed out. “So he packs more of a punch.”

“I guess…” Minori smiled. “But this isn’t about just hitting the ball, it’s also about hitting it _well,_ ” she explained. Then, she paused for a second, and a smile crawled on her face. “Why don’t _you_ give it a try?”

Ami instantly laughed. “Please, no thanks.”

“Come on! It’ll be fun, we’ll just set it to beginner and you’ll be fine,” Minori offered her the bat. “Do it!”

“No thanks! What if a ball hits my pretty face? My career would be ruined!”

Minori frowned. “Come on, not even a ball could ruin your career. You’d be the most beautiful person even with a broken nose or a black eye,” she reassured, looking so serious and certain that Ami was taken aback.

“W-well, I…”

“I won’t take no for an answer, come on!” Minori took Ami’s arm and dragged her into the cage. She did all the preparations while Ami tried to figure out how she should hold the bat, and a couple minutes later they were ready to begin. Before that, though, Minori handed Ami a helmet. “Here, to protect your pretty face.”

“Thanks…” Ami didn’t look Minori in the eyes, pretending to be annoyed, while reality was that she had been happy for the compliment. Not that she’d ever held any doubts Minori considered her beautiful: Everyone considered her beautiful. But having Minori say it like that was… flattering.

The machine shot its first ball, catching Ami by surprise. “Hya!” she exclaimed while trying to swing.

“Hey, that wasn’t half bad! You only arrived a year late!”

“Can it, Minorin, the only times I’ve played this stupid game in my life have been in practice matches during PE!”

Another ball came. Ami swung. She missed. “Come on, you can do it!”

 _Well at least one of us believes I can,_ Ami thought with a sigh.

Ball. Swing. Miss.

Ball. Swing. Miss.

“Don’t try to see the ball, try to time it!” Minori explained.

 _“_ I wasn’t trying to do either, actually,” Ami said. Ball. Swing. Miss.

“You’re getting closer! Fight on!” Minori sounded so excited. Why? Ami was clearly not meant for this.

“Shut up, you’re distracting me,” she said, taking a deep breath. Five balls. Five swings. Five misses. “Ugh.”

“It’s ok, don’t be discouraged, you’ll get it eventually.”

Ami took a deep breath. She appreciated Minori’s excitement and supportiveness. She was also growing tired of it. Or maybe she was just growing tired in general.

She swung at every ball. She missed every swing. Not only did she not manage a clean hit: She didn’t even _touch_ the ball. In all her attempts, which were far too many for her taste, she failed so utterly and miserably that she started to wonder if maybe Minori hadn’t tricked her. The machine had to be set up for a difficulty beyond beginner. Ami refused to believe she was _this_ awful.

And yet, she still failed. Ball. Swing. Miss.

When the last ball was thrown and the last swing missed, Ami stood there, waiting for another chance that didn’t come. “Uhm, Ami? You’re done.” Minori called.

Ami stepped out of the batting cage with solemnity, handing the bat back to Minori having learned much about herself and the world, about life and hardships. It seemed that a woman didn’t learn about herself until she missed every single attempt at hitting a ball in a batting cage.

Every. Single. Time.

Minori laughed. “That was the _worst_ attempt I have ever seen,” she declared.

“That machine wasn’t on beginner, was it?”

“Ami, it was on the setting I used to practice with _as a kid,”_ Minori explained, still laughing.

Ami was surprised. Then offended. Then… she laughed too. “I can’t believe I didn’t manage to hit _one._ ”

“Maybe the bat only works for me,” Minori looked at it. “Or maybe you broke it.”

“Ha ha,” Ami faked a laugh. “So, are we done here?”

“I think I’m going to give it another go, and then we can go have lunch somewhere.”

Ami would have tried to discourage her from repeating the activity, but seeing Minori swing with her toned arms, her beautiful form, the smile on her face… “Well, I did give you that bat for a reason, so be my guest.”

“I’ll hit a few home-runs to avenge your pathetic failure, Ami, I promise!”

“Wow, thanks,” Ami deadpanned. Minori chuckled, then she stepped forward and rose a hand towards Ami’s face. Ami took a step back in the surprise of the sudden movement. “W-what are you…?”

“I kinda need the helmet,” Minori explained with an awkward smile.

Ami blinked. “Oh, right, yeah,” she took it off, handing it over. “That’s what I thought too.”

Minori, thanks god, didn’t say anything as she did the preparations and stepped into the batting cage. Ami sat to wait. Her heartbeat had spiked back there, and she could still feel it. _Really subtle, Ami. I’m sure she doesn’t suspect anything,_ she chastised herself.

Well, at least she got to enjoy the view…

“You know the waitress?” Ami asked as she ate a fried potato.

“Not really, I think she’s new,” Minori said, thinking of the girl who’d served them. It hadn’t been the same one from earlier. “Why?”

“Then you _should_ get to know her. When we’ve come here other times your co-workers gave us more potatoes than this,” she explained, sighing.

Minori chuckled. “That’s kind of a selfish reason to get to know someone, don’t you think? Plus, you don’t even come here that often, it’s ways off your house.”

“Eh, I’m just saying. In the end, we all make friends for selfish reasons,” Ami pointed at her with a potato.

“Hmm… Then what’s the selfish reason you want to be my friend?” Minori asked, taking a sip of her tea.

Ami paused. Minori smirked, knowing she’d gotten Ami with the question. There was no easy answer to that one. Either she admitted she was wrong or she gave up some ulterior motive for their friendship. “Well, if we’re friends, I don’t have to deal with being constantly at war with you,” she said. A pitiful attempt at a save, which only made Minori smile more.

“That’s just a roundabout way of saying you wanna be friends because you don’t wanna be enemies. So… you just wanna be friends,” Minori said.

Ami gave her a flat look. “I mean, I don’t think we’re a good example of this. We didn’t exactly grow to be friends under normal circumstances.”

“That’s just an excuse… unless you do have some ulterior motive?” Minori asked. Then, with a solemn voice, she feigned being hurt, “Oh Amin, what hidden motives do you hide behind that beautiful face and annoyed expression? Is it my wealth you’re after? My knowledge? My fame?” She pretended to be horrified by the notion. Ami rolled her eyes at each of these. “Or maybe you’re after _me?_ ”

Now _that_ got a reaction out of Ami, who suddenly perked up. “Come on, stop with the theater,” she said. But Minori saw that there was more to it. Ami suddenly shoved a potato in her mouth and proceeded to take a long gulp of her soda, as if to stop herself from saying anything else.

Had she blushed a bit or was it just a trick of the light?

_I’m overthinking it._

“Well, whatever your reason, I’m still having fun,” she said, trying to rid her mind of unnecessary thoughts.

“Not for much longer, I suppose.” Ami pointed at the kitchen with a thumb. “You gotta work soon, right?” She sounded more tired than annoyed.

Minori met her eyes. Ami’s gaze was, normally, _cold._ She was good at hiding her emotions, so that was a bit of a given. She could stare down a glacier and freeze it further. Or at least, that was usually the case. This time, however, Minori perceived something else. A spark.

Ami really didn’t want her to go to work, huh? Was this because of the ‘you need to take a break’ thing? Or was she having _that_ much fun? Or maybe she just wanted to… spend more time with Minori?

 _What are you thinking?_ Of course that wasn’t the case. Was it? “Well…” Minori hesitated. “I’m having fun. Maybe I could ask my boss to change my shift to a morning one for the following week.”

The effect was instantaneous. Ami raised an eyebrow, skeptical. But she also smiled a little. Minori didn’t think she noticed. “You’d do that?

“If you want me to, I could,” Minori said carefully. What was she saying? What was this strange… feeling she got? As if the world around them was dampened, a small bubble of reality around their table. Chatter died down, movement seemed to blur.

The answer should’ve been obvious. Ami would tell Minori to do whatever she wanted. She wouldn’t fall for such obvious bait. Bait for what? What was Minori doing?

_Don’t even think about it-_

“I wouldn’t mind if you did it,” Ami said, diverting her eyes towards the windows. “But you can do whatever you want.”

Despite what she’d said, her intentions were clear. Or at least they were to Minori.

She actually wanted to spend more time with her.

Minori ran a finger through the bag that held her new bat. Just one afternoon couldn’t hurt, right? To take one break? Plus, she was having fun. Ami had actually let her go three more rounds at the batting cages without complaining—and Minori had felt that same intense stare on her, the one Ami had given her the day of the game. And this was also the first time they could chat lightheartedly since… ever. There was no tension between them today. No one to mess up their moods, no stressful situations to get them into fights.

Just two friends having fun.

Something inside Minori tried to stop her. She _had_ to work. She couldn’t let herself grow distracted like this. It warned her of consequences she wasn’t ready to face. Focus, look ahead, strive for her goal. She’d had her fun for the day, it was time to get serious. She wasn’t as ignorant as she wanted to believe; she was just afraid of taking that extra step, of allowing all of the pieces to click together. Because once they did there’d be no going back.

If she took that break, if she spent the afternoon with Ami too, then those pieces would _certainly_ come together.

Was it worth the risk?

“Give me a second,” Minori said, standing and heading towards the kitchen, leaving Ami sitting alone and anticipating.

Was she going to do what Ami thought she would? She hadn’t actually expected…

She knew. It was fairly obvious, and Ami had failed to be subtle. She _had_ to know. ‘If you want me to’. And Ami had basically said yes. She’d tried to save it, but it had been too late. The same had happened with Ryuji, her stupid mouth running and saying things without the permission of her brain. The big difference was that Minori wasn’t as dense as lead and innocent like a kid.

Great, now what? Ami had suggested Minori to stay, but she had no plans for the afternoon. Watch a movie? Nah, there wasn’t anything she wanted to watch. Go back to the batting cages? It was an option, but Minori would probably grow tired of it. Ugh, maybe just hanging out was fine. This wasn’t a romantic date, they didn’t need a set plan. They could just sit and talk here all afternoon or something.

Minori came back and looked at Ami with a smile. “Well, it’s settled. I’m not working anymore so… What are we doing after this?”

“I don’t have a plan, really,” Ami admitted.

“Ah, of course,” Minori put a hand to her chin. “Then… Ah, I know: How do you like karaoke?”

“Just the two of us?” Ami asked, leaving the latter part of the question unsaid: _Alone together for hours in a small room?_

“Sure! We can sing to our hearts content without fearing bringing shame upon our names.”

“Minorin, I’ve seen you in karaoke before, and you certainly didn’t worry about shame back then.”

“Well, then today I’ll go the extra mile! What do you say?”

Ami was a good singer, if she did think so herself. Minori was… wild, but she’d heard worse. She wasn’t sure how much fun it would be with just the two of them, but the idea of spending at least an hour or two with Minori in a private room was more appealing than she’d expected. Not that anything would happen, but just spending that time together could be nice.

“Ok, why not,” she nodded, eating another potato. “What did you tell your boss so that he’d let you off today, though?”

“That I had a date,” Minori grinned.

Ami looked away and snorted. She didn’t say anything, though, and instead tried to stop her face from getting too hot. If Minori noticed, she didn’t make a comment about it.

She had to be in the know, though.

It had been worth the risk.

After Minori finished singing the opening to Sailor Moon—which Ami insisted she didn’t know, but Minori didn’t believe, since everyone knew it—she dropped on the couch around the table and handed Ami the microphone, which she took and began looking for a song.

Minori drank from her milkshake, smiling and a bit tired from the exaggerated volume she’d used. Even then, there was a freeing feeling to singing your heart out with just one person to see you.

The karaoke room was dimly lit, with only two not very powerful lights over the table and the rest of the illumination coming from the screen. They could turn on the main light, but Minori preferred it this way. The room was small, too, but comfortable, and after an hour there singing and joking, she’d really begun to be thankful for the choice to take a break.

Ami eyed Minori with a bit of hesitance before the song began. It was more of a slow ballad that Minori didn’t recognize. Listening to Ami sing was always a treat, but maybe out of nervousness, today Ami missed a few notes here and there or stumbled upon lyrics. Well, that was also part of the fun, and she was still doing better than Minori anyways.

This time, Ami seemed a bit more passionate when singing. The song didn’t make a lot of sense to Minori, but it sounded sad and melancholic. Was it about love? The lyrics mentioned a bunch of people. Maybe it was about family or friendship.

When it finished, Minori found herself relaxed by it. “That was beautiful,” she said.

“Thank you,” Ami sat down, handing the microphone. There was another one they could use, but they hadn’t done any duets so far.

Minori stood and walked to the little screen where she could pick the songs. She considered grabbing one for two, but she didn’t want to pressure Ami into it. Plus, if she thought about it, she didn’t really know any duets anyways.

In the end, she sighed, going back to the table and sitting next to Ami. “You know, my voice’s a bit tired. Want to go another round?” she offered.

“No thanks. For just the two of us, I think getting two hours may have been a bit much,” Ami looked at her with a strange expression. Up until now, Minori had sat in front of her in the U-shaped seats, but something had drawn her to sit here instead, since Ami had gone a bit deeper into the seats.

“Well, we can still chat and have fun. We have a game coming up next week, by the way. Maybe you’ll want to see your bat in action,” Minori offered.

“ _Your_ bat,” Ami corrected. “And I’ll see if my schedule is free.”

Minori turned, pouting. “Are you saying you may not come?”

“I’m… probably going. I mostly work on weekends anyways, though I do have a shoot this Friday.”

“Ah, that’s good to know,” Minori smiled. “I’ll try to get a home run for you.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Ami snorted. Then, she slowly turned. “But, uhm… Would you like to come to the shoot?”

Minori blinked. “You mean, the photo-shoot? Where you, like, pose for cameras and they take photos of you?” she asked, growing a bit nervous. “I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that…”

“You wouldn’t be a model, you moron,” Ami rolled her eyes. “I mean if you’d like to come and watch. It’s not the most interesting stuff, but maybe—”

“Then I’d love to go,” Minori nodded. She didn’t have much of an idea of how these things were like, so getting to see it may be fun.

“Good, I’ll tell my agent you’re coming…” she paused. “Funny, you’re the first person I invite like this. I haven’t even asked Maya or Nanako to come.”

“Huh. Well, then it’s kind of an honor, isn’t it?” Minori suddenly grew conscious of how close they were sitting.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Ami faced her, leaning back against the seat. “I just… I’d like to show you who I am in my element. Maybe you’ll feel something similar to how I feel when watching you play softball.”

Ami’s voice was unnaturally even, but even then, Minori could feel a bit of heat crawling up her cheeks. The way she’d worded that… She almost sounded like… _Come on, don’t read too much into it._

“I’m sure it’ll be cool. I mean, getting to see a beauty like you doing poses and dressed up nicely? That’s gotta be a treat for the eyes!” Minori said. Then she realized how that sounded. “Not that I’d be going just because of that, of course! I bet it’s gonna be fun.” She chuckled nervously, trying to see if Ami had thought anything weird of it.

“Do you mean that?” The blue-haired girl sat up straighter.

“Yeah, of course, it has to be fun, right?”

Ami shook her head. “Not that,” her gaze seemed to deepen. It was as if her eyes pierced Minori’s soul. “The treat for the eyes part. Do you really think I’m that pretty?”

The way she said it, making her eyes look bigger, leaning in a bit closer so that Minori could see her long eyelashes better, smiling just a bit to draw attention to her lips… “O-of course,” she looked away. “Everyone thinks you’re beautiful, Amin.”

Ami slid a bit closer. “I don’t care about everyone,” she said in a lower voice. Minori turned her eyes again, seeing that Ami’s expression was dead serious. “I’m asking _you._ Do _you_ think I’m beautiful?”

 _Yes,_ was Minori’s instant thought. And who wouldn’t think that? There was a reason Ami was such a popular model. But even beyond that, there was a part of her a magazine page just wouldn’t be able to capture. Her elegance when moving, her mature voice, the captivating way her hair flowed.

“Uhm, we’re both girls, so…” Minori trailed off, growing nervous, feeling her heart fasten up, her brain telling her to jump away and her body asking her to stay put. “You probably shouldn’t care too much about what I—”

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Ami’s eyes narrowed. “Just answer.”

“I… yeah, I mean… You’re…” the most beautiful person Minori had ever seen? “Beautiful.”

Ami leaned even closer. Their noses were almost touching. Minori could see, even in the dark, that Ami had grown red, and she caught a whiff of some kind of perfume or cologne mixed with her natural scent. “You really think so?”

Minori felt as if her chest were going to explode. There was a primal part of her that kept screaming that she should run. She wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t want the pieces of the puzzle to come together. “Of course,” she said in a whisper.

And then, Ami kissed Minori.

She wasn’t thinking anymore. She hadn’t been for a minute now. After inviting Minori to the shoot, it had all become a blur. It wasn’t just what the redhead had said, it was everything. The dim room, how close they’d been sitting, how beautiful Minori looked.

Minori liked her. Maybe she hadn’t realized, but Ami had. What Minori definitely realized now, though, was that Ami liked her.

The kiss could be barely counted as such. It was a soft brush, a graze. Ami had stopped as soon as she’d felt the warmth and softness of Minori’s lips, waiting to see how she reacted, if she kissed back or not. They were alone, in a place where no-one would see them, after a day which they had both enjoyed.

She looked Minori in the eyes, but all she could see in them was shock.

A part of Ami was banging its head against a metaphorical wall. But the rest of her was just waiting, expectant.

_No no no no no no no,_ Minori’s brain went into overdrive.

Ami was kissing her. Well, almost. Minori could feel Ami’s lips, but all they produced was a bit of a tingly sensation on hers.

Ami liked her. Ami _liked_ her. It had been obvious. Minori didn’t want to admit it, but it was impossible to deny now.

Why did Ami do this? They had a nice thing going on. Why would she want to ruin it with romance? Why would she do this? Her stare was impassive. She wanted Minori to reciprocate, but Minori was just frozen solid. If she pulled away, she’d hurt Ami. But if she leaned in…

Did she want to lean in? She didn’t like Ami. She… She didn’t like anyone anymore. She _couldn’t_ like Ami. It would only lead to trouble. It would only lead to…

She pulled away.

“S-sorry,” she mumbled, jumping back and standing. “Maybe I should go,” she said, reaching to grab the bat but hesitating for a second. Ami didn’t look hurt as much as she looked confused. Minori grabbed the bat and turned, quickly walking towards the door. Before leaving, though, she forced herself to pause. She turned, doing her best to smile, and waved. “I’ll- I’ll see you on Friday for that photoshoot. Send me a message about it,” she said in an amiable tone before leaving.

Her heart was still pounding. Her face was flaming hot.

And a single emotion seemed to reign over her insides.

Fear.

Ami banged her head against the table a couple times.

 _You_ knew _that she wasn’t ready for this! What the hell is wrong with you?_ She thought as she let her head rest in her hands. _She’s got a broken heart, you idiot! It doesn’t matter whether she likes you or not!_

At least she’d taken the bat, and she’d still go to the shoot. Ami knew the idea was that they would pretend the stupid kiss didn’t happen. _Maybe I read her wrong. Maybe she doesn’t actually like girls. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions… No. No you’re not. She wasn’t disgusted or even confused. She was very clearly just scared._

Minori had run away. What had Ami expected? Nothing. She hadn’t been thinking straight. She hadn’t been thinking in general. She was stupid.

_This is exactly why I didn’t want to fall for her. God damn it, now what? We can both pretend it didn’t happen and live with the tension, or I can take the risk to talk about it and ruin everything._

The answer was obvious from the get-go, though, wasn’t it?

Talk things out.

_I’m sorry, Minori. We’re gonna have a bit of an awkward Friday._

But hopefully things would become better by the time they went back to class. That, or they just wouldn’t be talking to each other anymore. Whatever the case, it had to be better than going back to the unspoken tension between the two of them that had been on their lives for months now.

Ami really hoped things would be better, though. Even if Minori didn’t want to date, they could still be friends. Assuming Minori didn’t run away from now on.

Now, she still had one hour to waste in here alone…


	13. Chapter 13

Minori was distracted at her job.

She kept getting orders wrong, she dropped a few plates, and she’d done badly enough that her boss had had to take over from her. By the time only half of her shift was over, she was all but kicked out to ‘get a hold of herself’.

So it was that when she came back home early, ignored her parents and just dropped on her bed, all she could think about was one thing.

Ami.

It had been two days since the kiss. Or attempted kiss. Or half kiss? Peck? Whatever, it had been two days since then. Ami had already sent a message with the address and hour for their meet-up on Friday, but other than that they hadn’t talked. At all.

Ami liked her.

The though assaulted her every now and then. Like a punch to the gut, it caused her to instantly want to bend over and drop to the floor. Why? Minori didn’t want to date anyone. She wasn’t ready for it. Much less if it was another girl. What would their parents say? What would their friends say? It didn’t matter whether Minori liked Ami back or not. It was just not something that was going to happen.

Or so she wanted to make herself believe. The stupid, annoying, distracting warmth that spread from her chest when she thought of what Ami had done was the _one_ thing that stopped Minori from grabbing her phone and cancelling the Friday appointment.

The kiss, though short and weak, had been all Minori could think about. About how beautiful Ami was, about how she had paused before going all the way to give Minori the opportunity to reciprocate, about how seemingly unafraid she was despite their gender being the same.

Minori was afraid. She knew this much. She was scared of her feelings, of being hurt, of what others could say. Because of course she liked Ami. They fought, and they didn’t get along fully, but that was because of an inherent difference in ideals. All of that could be smothered out. What was important laid below the surface. Ami was a bit abrasive, but also insightful. She did her best to help others, even if she did so with her… not so admirable attitude. She was confident and determined to get what she wanted.

And maybe more importantly, she seemed to _really_ like Minori. Not for superficial reasons, like Ryuji had. Not for being best friends, like Taiga had. But because of who she was.

Did anyone know the real Minori besides her? Taiga had been the closest, but even she hadn’t known how she felt. No-one but Ami knew, not even Minori herself had allowed the thought to fully materialize in her head until it had been too late.

And now, she was going through a similar process. To like Ami was to open herself too much. She needed to study and train. What if she grew distracted? What if their relationship ended? They were teens. Not only that, Ami was on a league different from Minori. They were from different worlds and societies. And they were both girls. No matter how Minori looked at it, this just wasn’t something they should be worrying about. Maybe Ami was just confused. Or going through a phase. Maybe Minori was going through something like that.

Whatever the case, this wasn’t something that could work. Even if they both liked each other, even besides them being the same gender, even if Ami weren’t a famous and rich model. Minori was not interested in that type of relationship, and that was that.

She turned in bed, and her eyes rested upon the white bag of her new bat resting on the corner of her room.

Her heart throbbed.

_And that is that._

“You did WHAT?!” Maya exclaimed when Ami finished her story.

“Hush!” Ami almost slapped her. “Do you want everyone here to find out?”

They were sitting in a corner of Jonny’s. mostly because Ami knew for a fact Minori wasn’t working here today. She didn’t want to deal with the possibility of running into her. She still had a lot of thinking to do about how she was going to approach this whole thing in Friday.

“Sorry, I just… I didn’t know you swing that way,” Maya explained.

“I didn’t either, so I guess we’re all in the same boat here,” Ami sighed. She hadn’t touched her coffee yet, since she’d been too worried about how her friends would react.

“I can’t say I’m too surprised,” Nanako said. “I _kind of_ smelled it when you were talking about all of the stuff that happened between you two last time. I didn’t expect you to make the jump, though.”

Ami laughed without energy. “I don’t know if I’ll even be allowed to, given how Minori reacted. She ran away, quite literally. We’re still meeting up on Friday though.”

Maya shook her head. “Don’t lose hope. Just give Kushieda time, I’m sure she’ll come around.”

“The problem isn’t time, I think,” Nanako pressed her lips. “You made a bit of a hasty move there, with the kiss. You should have tried confessing first.”

“Wow, great advice, I hadn’t noticed,” Ami deadpanned her. Then she sighed, propping her head up with a hand. “I don’t know, I’m not looking for romantic advice. I just needed someone to talk to.”

“I’m surprised you were so open about this,” Maya said. “And a bit flattered that you trust us this much.”

Ami shrugged. “I’m Ami Kawashima. Even if you went on to spread rumors, I could wink, smile, say it’s a lie, and every guy in the world would believe me…” she eyed her friends. “And, of course, I trust you anyways.”

“Honestly, when you say stuff like that you can be pretty annoying,” Maya complained. “I’d probably be angrier if it wasn’t true though.”

Nanako chuckled. “Well, even if you’re not looking for advice, let me give you some: You should apologize and confess properly. If nothing else, that should at least fix some of the damage you did.”

“I agree. And if Minori acts awkward around you don’t hold it against her. _You_ made the mistake, not her,” Maya pointed an accusatory finger at Ami.

“Ok, yeah, I know…” Ami closed her eyes. “I just wish I could turn back time and undo the kiss. What a mess.”

“How did it… feel?”

Ami opened her eyes, looking at Maya, who smiled awkwardly. “Was it… you know, weird?”

“I don’t know. It was barely a kiss. I just… grazed her lips with mine,” Ami deflected.

“But how did it _feel?_ ” Nanako asked, leaning forward with a smile.

It was a complicated question. It also had a very simple answer. “It felt nice,” Ami said, closing her eyes and remembering the moment. The spark was still present in her chest, the stupid impulsiveness that had driven her to do that. She liked to think if she went back she’d refrain, but if she was honest with herself, she probably would have just gone all the way. “It only left me wanting more.”

“You really like her, eh?” Maya smiled. “I didn’t think I’d see the day where Ami would be fawning over a guy- I mean, girl.”

“It’s kinda hard to believe Ami would have any troubles with romance at all,” Nanako nodded. “But I guess we all end up liking problematic people in the end.”

“Minori isn’t…” Ami went on the defensive, but thought better of it. “Ok, maybe she is a bit a bit of a hassle to deal with. But…”

“That’s part of her charm too?” Nanako asked.

“Yeah,” Ami sighed. She wasn’t sure of how to feel about how good these two were becoming at reading her. Finally, after a while, she sipped her coffee. It had grown lukewarm.

“Now, tell us in detail why exactly do you like her,” Maya said.

“Huh?”

“Come on. We can tell she’s pretty, but why do you like her? Particularly with all the history you two have. Tell us,” she leaned over the table, eyes sparkling with excitement. Nanako also looked fairly curious.

 _Great,_ Ami thought, mentally rolling her eyes. “Well…”

Minori woke up with a stomach ache.

She’d fallen asleep without eating, she realized, and no-one had waked her up. She shivered a bit. It was pretty chill. Hopefully she hadn’t caught a cold, she still had to work today. She was lucky that her three businesses stayed open during golden week.

Plus, if she caught a cold, she wouldn’t be able to go see Ami tomorrow…

Maybe she _should_ catch a cold, actually.

With that silly thought, she sat up, stretched and rolled her shoulders. Her neck hurt a little when she turned it, probably due to the position she’d slept in. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. There were sounds coming from the kitchen, and when Minori exited her room and peeked into it, she saw her mother and brother having breakfast.

“Ah, good morning, sis,” Yuuta said, raising a hand. “We were thinking you’d died.”

“How much did I sleep?” Minori asked, feeling her voice coarse.

“We’re not sure, but it’s ten in the morning already. Are you sick?” Her mom asked. “There’s breakfast ready, come have some.”

Minori was about to agree, but then she paused, catching a whiff of… herself. “I think I better take a bath. I still smell like ramen and salt.”

“Well, I’ll heat up the tea in the meantime,” Aoi said.

“Thanks mom,” she said while taking a deep breath and walking away.

While she prepared to bath, brushing her teeth and doing all that needed to be done, her mind couldn’t help focusing on all the things she very clearly didn’t want to think about. But she didn’t let any of it drag her down. She went through the motions in the bathroom, dong her best not to feel too bad, and then she went back to the kitchen, rather refreshed by the change in pace of having bathed in the morning.

She was ravenous, so by the time she finished a second bowl of rice with some eggs, both her mother and brother were looking at her with awe.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Her mother asked. “You looked down yesterday, and you slept a lot. Maybe you should take a break from work today.”

“I already took a break on Monday,” Minori said, shaking her head. “And I’ll probably have to take a break tomorrow. I promise I’m fine, though,” she lied.

“Well, if you’re sure…” Aoi didn’t sound convinced.

“You haven’t looked so sad since that guy rejected you on valentines,” her brother said, snickering.

“Yuuta!” her mother exclaimed.

Minori didn’t have the energy to answer to that taunt. Instead, she just stood up and walked out of the kitchen. “W-wait, sis, I was just joking,” Yuuta walked after her. “I’m sorry!”

“I need to get ready for work,” Minori said without turning around and entering her bedroom.

Yuuta knocked on her door. “Really, I’m sorry. I just said what came to mind, I didn’t really want to be mean.”

“It’s ok, I forgive you,” Minori said, leveling her voice. “Now please leave me alone.”

Steps outside told her that her brother had walked away. Minori sighed, sitting on her bed. She wasn’t angry at him. Truth was, her reaction had been instinctual. The mere idea of anyone wanting to talk with her about romance right now was a big _no._

Maybe she’d run into Ryuji today too. Maybe talking with him could help her fix her inner turmoil. Nothing like him to give her a grim reminder of how troublesome romance could be.

Not that she needed much of a reminder, tough.


	14. Chapter 14

Minori hadn’t had to deal with Ryuji, in the end.

She woke up fairly early on Friday, since she didn’t want to lose the habit. She made breakfast, she prepared a slightly nicer than usual attire to go to the shoot, and she raised all possible mental barriers to protect herself from the assured rollercoaster of feelings that today would be.

If nothing else, Ami had made sure that today’s activities were going to be interesting, one way or another. Minori hadn’t caught that cold, she wouldn’t have to work until late afternoon, and she had no other excuses to not go meet Ami.

So she would go meet her, because despite everything, she still wanted to be friends with her.

Hopefully Ami would understand.

Ami waited in front of the studio patiently.

Today she _did_ wear a disguise, since she couldn’t have people trying to slip into the shoot. She should also be already inside, but her anxiety wouldn’t let her. She needed to make sure Minori would show up. Not that being outside would change whether she did or not, but being here helped.

She hadn’t exchanged a single message with Minori since sending her the address and time. She was scared Minori would ditch this. If needed, Ami had even considered ditching the shoot and going to Minori’s house. She had no idea where that was but surely she could find out.

It was around the thirteenth time she checked the time on her phone in the past ten minutes that she heard the voice. “Hello, Amin.”

Ami turned, seeing the redhead waving and smiling nervously. “Minori, you came,” Ami said more excitedly than she’d expected.

“Well, I did say I was going to come, didn’t I?” Minori said.

“I’m… surprised, honestly,” Ami, maybe for the first time in her life, nervously pushed some hair behind her ear. “But that’s not important, let’s get inside.”

Minori nodded. Ami lead her into the ten-stories high building, and she nodded to the guard and receptionist, who already knew her. This was a study Ami had been coming to fairly often since getting back into the business in this city.

They got into the elevator, went up to the sixth floor, and the doors opened directly into a corridor. At the end of it, the bustle of people going around and chatting made it obvious what was going on in there. “Ah, Kawashima,” someone came out of a side door. “We were starting to get worried. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she frowned at the guy. He was one of the guys who took care of her attires. He also completely ignored Minori as he nodded and went to the back room. Ami turned to her friend and shrugged. “Excuse them if they act a bit assholish. Things can get pretty hectic.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Minori said with a shake of her head. “I’m just a spectator anyways.”

Ami didn’t agree; she was a _guest._ But this wasn’t the time to argue about it. “Ok, I need to get ready. Go to that room, find a chair, sit down and I’ll go through my first set of photos. We can… talk, afterwards.”

Minori grinned and gave her a thumb up. Ami took a deep breath and stepped into the side room the guy had just exited to get dressed.

She should have asked Minori to meet up _before_ the shoot. Now she was going to be nervous all throughout the session. But she couldn’t let Minori see how nervous she was or things would get awkward real fast. _Ok, deep breaths. Stop worrying…_

Minori sat in the darkness, seeing a bunch of people go around moving lights and taking photos of Ami as she posed in front of a white background. In normal circumstances, this probably would’ve bored her. She could sit still and enjoy things in silence, but in this case there wasn’t much to see other than Ami.

Of course, that was the entertaining part.

Besides whether or not Minori liked Ami, no-one could deny that the blue-haired girl was _beautiful._ Enrapturingly so. Every pose, every expression, every gesture: All of it was worth a picture and with good reason. Despite her best efforts, Minori had been totally captured by this Ami. By her seriousness and her professionalism, by her poise and elegance. She was also wearing a striking red top with open shoulders that showed some midriff, paired with a couple of black jeans with golden accents. It looked both simple and exotic, and while Minori wasn’t a big fan of the color scheme she could also appreciate how good Ami looked in those colors.

Then again, Ami would look good in anything.

At one point, Ami sat down with her legs extended and propping herself up with both hands, almost as if she was sitting on a beach. From there she was left looking almost straight at Minori, who waved weakly. Ami stayed impassive, but her eyes nailed on to her.

Those eyes, a couple of sapphires, were intense. Maybe she wasn’t emoting in any other way, but Minori could feel them, the same way she’d felt whenever Ami would watch her play.

Then she realized, she was probably looking at Ami the same way right now. And Ami had definitely noticed. But how could Minori not? Anyone would… right? Anyone would want to walk up to Ami and kiss her when they were getting looked at like that. Anyone’s heart would skip a beat. Or two. Or ten.

“Ok everyone, that’s it for now. Let’s take ten,” someone said as the lights were turned on, breaking Minori out of her daze.

“Make it fifteen,” Ami ordered when she stood. No-one contradicted her, so Minori assumed she could order people around without much of a problem.

“That was… amazing,” Minori said when Ami approached. “All the flashes and the poses, my brain is still processing by everything.”

Ami smiled. “So you’re saying, looking at me in a multitude of poses was amazing?” she asked.

Minori blinked.

Ami paused.

“Ok, let’s pretend I didn’t just say that,” Ami said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Sorry.”

“N-no, it’s ok,” Minori chuckled nervously. “Y-you’re not wrong, technically.”

Ami looked up and it was very obvious that she was deeply embarrassed by what she’d just said. “Let’s just go to my changing room. We… need to talk.”

“Yeah, I guess we should,” Minori nodded. She followed Ami, hoping something good would come out of this chat.

Once they were both sitting in front of each other in the relatively small room—which had all of her wardrobe hung around, with a pair of massive mirrors and makeup tools on desks—Ami went straight to the point.

She bowed. “I’m really sorry for what I did on Monday,” she said. “It was out of place. I hope you can forgive me.”

It wasn’t just a formality. She really did feel sorry, and while she wished for forgiveness, she would also understand if Minori didn’t want to give it to her. Of course, this being Minori…

“Don’t worry about it,” Minori laughed. “That’s like, a normal thing between girls, right? Kissing your friends, hugging, all of that,” she continued, her laugh clearly a fake one.

Ami sat straight up again, looking at Minori, who wore one hell of a false smile and was trying to act normal. She could have taken the hand offered to her. Pretend that was all this was: A silly thing that had happened between friends. Use that, keep this budding friendship as it was, maybe wait until Minori was better prepared to deal with all of this.

But what was the point? It’d just make them both go back to tip-toeing around each other, to never bring up the topic. They’d be reluctant to be alone with each other, particularly Minori. Ami didn’t want that. She’d been fighting to fix exactly this issue.

“Minori, I don’t think I need to tell you this, but we _both_ know it wasn’t a friends thing,” Ami said crossing her arms.

The redhead stopped smiling, and suddenly looked a lot more like she had on Monday: Shocked and a bit scared.

 _Please don’t do this,_ Minori begged internally. “C-come on, Amin, you don’t have to-”

“Yes, I do,” Ami cut her off. She looked so serious. From up close, Minori could really see the make-up on her face, which made her look far older, like a proper adult. “I’m not going to run away from this, and this time I’m not going to let _you_ run away.”

“S-sorry about that…” Minori looked down, embarrassed that Ami had seen through her so easily.

Ami took a deep breath. “Minorin, I like you.” She said. Minori looked up again, seeing a face that had turned from serious to caring. “And I’d be grateful if you accepted to go out with me.”

Minori froze. The way Ami was watching her. The weak smile, the soft eyes, how honest she was being. It was undeniable that it had an _effect_ on her. But once again, Minori just wanted to stand and-

“But,” Ami didn’t let her finish her thought, “I also understand you’ve gone through a lot, so I won’t pressure you into it. I just wanted to put my cards on the table so that we know where each of us is standing in this strange—to say the least—relationship.”

Wait. Had she heard right?

Those words seemed to lift a thousand kilos off Minori’s back. All week she’d been worried about what may go down today, and her worst fear was that Ami would actually confess. In actuality, it seemed that Ami confessing was what she needed.

Ami liked her. Enough to _not_ want to be with her. She was so relieved she wanted to cry.

Instead, she smiled. Genuinely this time. “Wow, that’s…” she wasn’t sure of what to say. “Thanks, Ami.”

“I hope we can still be friends,” Ami said, her smile wavering a bit. “I went through a whole lot of effort to try and make this work. I just happened to… fall for you in the process.”

Minori was able to chuckle. “Of course we’re still friends. I’m flattered that you actually like me. And a bit surprised. Doesn’t it… bother you? You know, that we…”

“What? That we’re both girls?” Ami raised an eyebrow. “I can’t say I don’t have some hang-ups about that, but I honestly don’t care too much. Is that a problem for you?”

“No, not exactly,” Minori shrugged. “I just… I guess I’m surprised you’re able to say it like that, you know?”

“From what I understand, you’ve also considered being into girls in the past, and you even talked to the guy you liked about it,” Ami said.

“Ryuji told you about that?” Minori asked.

“Kinda,” Ami nodded. “He heard my plea for help and offered me that tidbit.”

Minori wanted to be mad at Ryuji for that, but then again, she’d never meant for it to be some sort of big secret. In truth, if nothing else, she was kinda glad Ryuji had remembered that detail and had told Ami.

Wait, why was she glad about that? “Oh well, it’s fine. I think it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone if they found out I like Taiga.”

Ami raised an eyebrow. “You still like her?”

“No!” Minori exclaimed. “Well, I mean, as a friend of course, but not romantically or… Well, I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought, it’s… confusing,” she felt some heat crawl up her cheeks. “I try not to think about romance.”

“I’ve noticed,” Ami nodded. She leaned a bit closer, though they were far enough apart that Minori didn’t grow nervous. “But since we’re on the topic, I would like to know how you feel about _me_.”

“W-well, I consider you a friend, of course…” she trailed off, seeing Ami’s unimpressed look. Minori closed her eyes. She mustered up her courage, looking inside, letting her barriers drop for just a second. “Ok, fine. Yes, I like you too, Ami. But…” she shook her head. “I’m not even sure _how_. Even if it’s not just as a friend, I can’t do this. I can’t have a relationship. I need to focus on what’s important to me.”

She opened her eyes again with hesitance, expecting Ami to look angry, indifferent or skeptical. Instead, her eyes were full of understanding, and there was a relieved smile on her. “That’s pretty much what I expected, honestly,” she said, leaning back.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Ami nodded.

“Then… we’re just friends, right?”

Ami paused for a moment. “I won’t say that I’ve given up on the idea of dating you,” she explained. “But I can understand your point of view. I’m willing to wait, if at least for a while.”

Minori nodded, feeling grateful. “Thanks, Amin. I’m sorry that my problems—”

“Oh, hush,” Ami interrupted. “Just promise me one thing, before we finish this conversation.”

“Yeah?” Minori cocked her head.

“It’s pretty clear that, at least for the moment, my attraction is stronger. Or maybe we should say unhinged,” Ami prefaced. “So I want you to promise me that you won’t hide or run because you feel something towards me. We don’t have to kiss or do romantic stuff, but I don’t want you growing awkward if I tell you you’re pretty or if you think _I’m_ pretty. Which, to be fair, will happen often. I want you to allow yourself to _feel_ stuff, even if you don’t act on it. Don’t ignore your emotions, alright?”

Minori couldn’t help but smile at the last comment. She considered the words carefully before replying; she owed Ami that much.

A part of her was still scared, but for once, Minori didn’t let that grow on her. Instead, she took what Ami had said at face value. Not the pretty part, which she was, but the feelings one. She imagined Ami calling to her in class just to say something nice to her. She imagined Ami cheering for her in a game. She imagined, maybe in a future where she no longer held all of these doubts, herself going up to Ami and asking her to go out properly.

She found that all of these thoughts brought warmth to her chest.

“I can live with that,” Minori nodded.

“You promise?”

“I promise,” Minori said. She extended her hand. “Here, let’s do a pinky promise!”

Ami deadpanned her. “Really? Pinky promise? What are we, five?”

“Come on, just do it!”

Rolling her eyes, Ami took Minori’s pinky with hers. “I _will_ make you swallow those needles if you don’t keep the promise, though,” she said.

Minori chuckled. “That’s what the pinky is for, isn’t it?”

They let go of their pinkies, and Ami sighed. “Now, if you excuse me, the break is close to ending and I still gotta change. I don’t mind if you wanna stay, but…”

“N-no, I’ll leave you be,” Minori stood. “Thanks for your honesty, though.”

“Don’t speak as if this were a goodbye, once the shoot is over we still have time left before you have to work.”

“Ah, of course. Uhm… well, I’ll wait outside,” she said, stepping out and closing the door.

She realized, then, that a smile had settled on her face, and she wasn’t able to be rid of it.


	15. Chapter 15

“Maybe I could get you a part time job with my crew,” Ami offered Minori.

A bit over two weeks had passed since golden week. As Minori had foreseen, she’d lost her job at the ramen parlor. Even if she’d expected it, Ami could tell Minori was troubled for it. She didn’t dare ask Minori if it was due to monetary issues or not, as that was one of the topics the redhead seemed to _hate,_ but she’d still try to help.

“Nah, it’s fine. I can probably use the extra time for practice, anyways,” Minori said, sighing. “You saw me in that game last week. I was awful.”

“Don’t be stupid, you were fine,” Ami said. “You can’t always be in top form.”

“I let in a lot of runs. And I was the cause of the double-play that cost us the game.”

“Minori, you were already losing by five runs, you wouldn’t have won even if that double play hadn’t played out,” Ami replied. “Don’t feel so guilty.”

“I’m the captain, it’s my responsibility to—”

Ami groaned, cutting Minori off. “You really need to get over yourself.”

They finally entered school.

They’d been walking together for the last couple of streets. Ami normally came from another direction, but she’d started to take that little detour to meet with Minori a bit earlier. Minori had been a bit hesitant about it at first, but they had fun together, so it was fine. Ami did feel a bit bad for ditching early morning chats with Maya and Nanako, but they had already encouraged her to do it anyways.

It was cheesy, maybe, but what better way to help Minori get past her hang-ups than get her used to hanging out together? If she could see that Ami was not something she’d have to worry about, then she’d have to accept dating her for real! Despite what she’d said, she was not about to simply step aside and don’t ever make any move.

After all, Minori had promised to not run away.

All Ami had to do now was make sure she instead wanted to get closer.

They got their shoes and walked to class, where they sat and Ami waved a greeting to her friends and also those eager to say Ami had looked at them.

“How do you deal with it?” Minori asked, sitting backwards on her chair.

“Deal with what?”

“All the guys constantly swarming around you, wanting your attention. Doesn’t it get tiring?”

Ami smirked. “Why? Are you jealous?” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ve only got eyes for you.”

Minori closed her eyes for a second. “I’m still _so_ not used to that,” she said as if to herself. When she opened her eyes again, she looked away. “I just think it seems… tiring,” she pointed at their classmates subtly.

Ami examined her expression. This was their new dynamic, for now. They were surprisingly more relaxed around each other now that they had talked things out. In turn, this allowed Ami to be a bit flirty without freaking Minori out, and Minori… Well, she was getting there. Right now, she _may_ have been jealous, as Ami suggested, or it may be that she was finally comfortable enough around her to ask the question.

“It’s bothersome, sometimes,” Ami admitted. “But I’m used to it. Plus, you’d be surprised at how useful it can be to have a bunch of guys ready to throw themselves at our feet and do whatever you ask.”

Minori gave Ami a strange look.

“What?” Ami asked.

“Nothing…”

“Come on, spit it.”

“I was just wondering if you got enough love as a child…” Minori said.

“Oh shut up,” Ami couldn’t help snorting, to which Minori chuckled.

The bell for the class start rang. “Are you coming to practice today?” Minori asked.

“I don’t know. People may start to think I actually want to join if I keep going,” Ami shrugged. She’d already gone to all afternoon practices in the past two weeks. “Or worse, they may realize the real reason I go to them.”

“Because you enjoy the sport?” Minori asked, pretending innocence.

“I certainly enjoy one part of the sport. The one where I get to see you smiling.”

Minori visibly blushed, which Ami took as a win. “Someone is going to hear you one of these days,” she said.

“Even if they did, I severely doubt they’d understand what I really mean. We’re just two best friends being close together,” Ami shook her head. “No one suspected anything from you and Taiga, didn’t they?”

“Well, there wasn’t anything to suspect there.”

“And we’re far less touchy-feely than you and Taiga were, so…”

“I guess I can see your point,” Minori sighed. The teacher finally showed up at their door, and everyone had to stand. “We’ll keep talking after class.”

“Actually, I have a… meeting, so we’ll talk later.”

Minori cocked her head, probably curious, but didn’t get to ask what Ami was referring to as class started.

In the end, Ami didn’t come to practice.

Minori was more disappointed than she’d expected. She’d kind of grown used to Ami’s eyes fixed on her through them, and she couldn’t deny that once she got past the nervousness, the idea of Ami coming to watch only _her_ was something that she enjoyed.

As she pitched for a line of batters, she tried to clear her mind of that. Of course, the batter’s goal was to bat, while Minori’s was to strike them out. She managed to do her job fairly well, but a few of the third years, the ones more used to her pitches, were able to completely bypass her.

After a few rounds, Minori’s arm grew tired, so another pitcher relieved her. It was as she went to grab some water that she saw a figure watching from the fences. For a second she thought Ami might have reconsidered, but a better look showed a smiling guy with round glasses waving at her.

Minori approached, surprised. “Kitamura, it’s been a while,” she greeted.

“Hello Kushieda, how are things going around here?” He asked. He looked the same as always, though the longing in his eyes was stronger than Minori would’ve expected.

“Fine,” she said, looking at the field. “We’re preparing for another game next week.” She leaned against the fence, crossing her arms.

“That sounds like fun. And what about you? I heard you lost pretty bad last time.”

Minori looked down. She still blamed herself for that loss—because it _had_ been her fault. Her pitches had been subpar, her batting hadn’t been up to speed either. Sure, she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t played perfectly, but if she’d just done a bit better… “Yeah, we’d already lost by the fifth inning. Then I messed up in the sixth, killing all our chances at a recovery.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, it was just one game. It is a bit weird, though, you don’t often make mistakes,” Yusaku commented. “Were you nervous?”

Ami had been looking at her. Minori remembered that last time at the bat, when she’d caused the double play. How her ball had rolled straight to the pitcher. Right before batting, she could’ve sworn she’d heard Ami’s cheer for her, even amongst all the shouting of the crowds.

“Something like that,” Minori sighed. “I wasn’t focusing properly.”

Yusaku stayed silent for a moment. Minori turned, seeing that his eyes were following some of the guys running laps around the field. “I have a bit of a confession to make,” he said. “I didn’t really come here to reminisce about the past. We have something to discuss,” he turned, and he looked serious.

Minori cocked her head. “Yeah?”

“Here,” Yusaku took a paper out of his pocket. “I think you’ll get a better grasp of it if you see it for yourself.”

Curious, Minori took the paper through the fence and looked at it. It was a budget form, the one she was given every now and then to help the student council keep track of where the money went and- “Holy cannoli,” Minori finally saw the budget. “That’s… that’s double the amount we agreed upon.”

“It is,” Yusaku nodded. “It hasn’t been approved yet, but I feel like you needed to know.”

“What happened?” Minori walked around the fence, not knowing if she should be scared of excited. “Some kind of legendary old player saw or game and said we were good? Some kind of star transfer student gonna join? Maybe we-”

“It’s thanks to the donation of an anonymous patron,” Yusaku said. “Who was very concerned about not wanting her identity revealed.”

“ _Her…_ ” Minori felt a light bulb suddenly turning on above her head. “Wait, this wouldn’t happen to come from Ami, would it?”

Yusaku’s expression was confirmation enough. “W-what? How’d you figure it out so quickly?!”

Minori looked at the page again, this time really not knowing how to feel. Ami wasn’t trying to win her over with money, right? Kinda hard to do that while wanting to remain anonymous. Was it a selfless gift, then?

“If I say we can’t accept this money, you’ll have to refuse to take it, right?” Minori said.

“Think carefully about that. I know you were worried about some of the gloves being old and about getting some new bats and all,” Yusaku warned. “The decision will wait two days, so you should talk it over… And please don’t tell Ami I told you, she’s gonna kill me.”

Minori examined the sheet again. That was a lot of money for the team. And this probably came from Ami’s pockets, not her parents’. How much did she make as a model to be able to offhandedly double their club’s budget? It seemed like an exaggeration. She was surely also delving into her savings.

“I’ll talk with her,” Minori said, handing the paper back. “Until then, my answer will be no.”

Yusaku hesitated, scratching his head. “Since you already figured this out I guess I can tell you that Ami was also very specific in telling us that we should approve this budget even if you refused it. Which we technically can do.”

Stupid Ami. What was her goal here? Minori really couldn’t figure it out. “I’ll be sure to talk Amin out of it,” Minori said, crossing her arms and turning to her team. “I think I know now the real reason she didn’t want to come to practice today.”

“Ah, I heard she’s been coming here recently. Is she planning to join?”

“No,” Minori simply replied. “See you later, Kitamura.”

Yusaku looked confused as Minori went back into the field, but he eventually shrugged it off and left.

Minori watched him go from the corner of her eye, already dreading the conversation she’d have with Ami afterwards.

Though maybe the idea of calling her wasn’t all that unpleasant.

Ami smiled as her phone rang and Minori’s contact name popped onscreen. She’d just finished her workout at the gym and was preparing to take a shower. She leaned against the locker as she picked up.

“Hello,” she said with a neutral tone. “What’s up?”

“Why did you double the softball’s club budget?” Minori’s voice was even, but Ami could tell she wasn’t happy about it.

She frowned. “Did Yusaku tell you? I’m going to murder-”

“He didn’t, I just figured you’re the only person with enough money and investment to try something like this,” Minori replied. “Why did you do it? If it’s meant to be some sort of love thing-”

“I did it,” Ami interrupted. “Because I’m not doing anything with that money anyways, and everyone in your team is looking down. You have a game next week, right? Take the money, get everyone’s spirits up by renovating equipment or something, or take them out to eat after you win.”

Minori didn’t reply for a few seconds. Ami could feel the quiet intensity through the phone. “I’m not taking that money.”

Ami yawned. “Then the student council will, and they’ll assign you to your club anyways, so it’s not like you’ve got much of a choice.”

“And if I ask you not to do it?” Minori’s voice weakened. “Please.”

“Why?” Ami expected this would happen should Minori find out. Despite what the redhead had said, she still suspected Yusaku had slipped somewhere.

“I don’t need help. We don’t need help. It was the same with that tip you gave me, you shouldn’t—”

“Minorin,” Ami interrupted again. “Stop. What’s really bothering you?” She asked. “You can tell me.”

Again, a long silence followed. The simple fact that Minori hadn’t ended the call right there was enough of a victory for Ami. “You’re just doing this because you like me. Or at least, that’s how I feel.”

“I won’t say that’s not a part of it,” Ami admitted. “But does it matter?”

“Of course it does! We’re not a couple, we’re not together. I’m just going to end up feeling indebted to you. How will I know what I really feel if this keeps up?”

She had a point there, but Ami sighed. “You don’t have to feel _indebted._ I’m not asking for anything in return. Hell, I wanted it to be an _anonymous_ tip. I just want you to be comfortable and happy, and thought doing that might help.”

“But I don’t want your help!”

“I know,” Ami explained. “Yet here I am, offering it. Because I like you, because I think of you as a friend, and also because I’ve become more invested in the team than I’m willing to admit.”

“And what if you stopped liking me? You’d regret this forever,” Minori said, not so much ‘angry’ as she was worried. “I don’t want that on your shoulders either.”

Ami smiled. She couldn’t help it. It was hard to think that she’d ever stop liking Minori when she spoke like that. Annoying, sure, but also cute. “Ok, I’ll consider withdrawing the donation.”

“Thanks,” Minori sounded far more relaxed.

“ _But_ you first need to talk it over with your team. Only, don’t tell them it was my money, because I think the student council may already be suspicious of me,” Ami said. “It was pretty hard to explain why I wanted to give the money without mentioning you already.”

“But if I do that, they can’t really make the right decision!” Minori said.

“I meant to be an anonymous donor, and you should respect that. Of course, if you tell them, the boys in the team will probably reject the money on their pride or something, and everyone else would still be hesitant to take it if they knew it came from me,” Ami’s overly formal tone was meant to be a joke, but she also felt like it was helping her not sound annoyed. “More important, you may get a new influx of members if people somehow found out I’m _that_ interested in the club. Most of them guys, I’d bet.”

“Then my team won’t hesitate to take the money,” Minori complained.

“Because maybe, just maybe, it’s the right call. Don’t let our relationship get in the way of it,” Ami said. “Tell me, were you going to accept the money before you found out it was me?”

Minori hesitated.

“Exactly,” Ami didn’t need an answer. “So imagine it’s money someone threw at you from the sky and stop worrying so much.”

She ended the call.

She instantly regretted it. She wanted to speak more.

Well, she still needed a shower, and she could see Minori tomorrow.

It wasn’t hard to empathize with Minori’s point of view, but Ami was tired of it. Not accepting the money, for whatever reason, was stupid. Ami really didn’t have anything else to invest in. Otherwise she’d just waste it in snacks. At least this way she got it where it’d be used for a purpose other than fattening her.

Hopefully Minori wouldn’t be too mad.


	16. Chapter 16

Minori was mad.

She had talked it over with some of the other members of the team after calling Ami, and all of them unanimously agreed that they should take the money.

Ami had manipulated her and everyone into basically being forced to accept it. Minori didn’t like that. Despite what Ami had said, this _still_ felt like she was only doing it because she liked Minori, and it was too big a gesture that she’d certainly regret one day.

That’s why, when she sat down for Wednesday classes, she pointedly ignored Ami, who waved a greeting at her.

“Hey, something happen?” Ami asked from behind. “You barely made it in time, that’s unusual for you.”

Minori’s resolution to not talk to Ami until this was all solved instantly weakened. Having Ami show actual concern was strange. She wasn’t asking in her usual nonchalant way, or pretending to not care. She sounded… well, worried.

She still didn’t answer.

“Hey, can you hear me? Are you asleep?” Ami’s head popped next to Minori’s. Minori looked at her, feeling only the slightest rush of embarrassment at how close Ami was, and then turned her head the other way. It took Ami a few extra seconds to realize. “Oh, I see what you’re doing,” she said as she went back to her chair. “Really? The ice treatment? What are you, five?”

 _Maybe I am,_ Minori thought, annoyed.

“Fine, you can be angry, we’ll talk later,” Ami said. She didn’t sound angry or annoyed. She sighed, like she’d been expecting this. Was Minori _that_ predictable? She found it hard to believe, but then again, few people were as good reading others as Ami.

She made no further attempts at speaking to Minori in the remainder of the morning. Even during breaks, she simply got up to talk to Nanako and Maya. A few times she even entertained guys with her far-too-nice persona. Minori pretended none of this bothered her, but there was a strange fire inside her.

Jealousy? Nah. She held little doubt at this point as to how much Ami liked her. In fact, Ami acting like this just spoke to that. There was nothing to prove anymore.

Oh. _Oh._

It suddenly clicked in Minori’s head.

She really was a five year old, in a way. Giving someone the cold shoulder because you were mad at them? That didn’t solve anything. Ami knew that, so she simply gave Minori the time to figure things out on her own.

Minori had a hard time figuring out whether she was offended by this or not. Pride was a double edged blade. Now that she’d treated Ami like that, she found it hard to go back and apologize.

Even when Lunch Break began, when Minori had gotten past that particular hang-up, she still felt… wrong. There was no other way to explain it. She still didn’t want that money. She had no excuse not to take it other than silly pride, but for some reason that was overpowering.

She was so confused that she stood, needing to walk and pace. She needed to do _something_ to calm herself down and figure out what the hell was going on with herself. Every step she took seemed to help, her muscles unwinding. She should just go back to Ami and tell her she’d take the money, then apologize for acting childish. But then again, Ami was going against her wishes. And something still didn’t feel right. But what was it?

Between walks, Minori ended up reaching the vending machines on the second floor. These were the ones Ami had come to when she wanted to be alone last year, and though she did it less often now, that nook between the machines still felt like Ami’s place.

Minori looked around, seeing no-one nearby, and carefully sat in there.

It was… comforting. Most of the world around her was hidden from view, the sides by the machines and the front by the stairs. The echoes of conversations around the school sounded distant, otherworldly. The light of day seemed to dwindle there, and the space was a bit cooler than the rest. Minori could just close her eyes and…

“Oh, hello there,” Ami’s voice pierced the peace, making Minori snap awake. Minori didn’t know what to say, so she simply looked down in embarrassment. “I must say, when I saw you coming this way, I didn’t expect to find you in my place.”

Minori looked up once again. Ami had a smirk on her face, as if she were privy to a secret Minori ignored. Trying to save some face, Minori stood and tried to get out of Ami’s spot. She’d probably want it for herself-

Instead, what she found was Ami taking a step forward, making Minori back down into the nook. Ami put a hand on the vending machine, cutting off her escape.

Minori realized how this could look from the outside and her face began getting hot. Ami was close, too close for comfort, and she was looking at Minori with those big, beautiful eyes that seemed ready to attack at her every weakness should she let her guard down for a moment.

“Enough with the silence. I can tell something is bothering you and I want you to tell me. Don’t forget the promise you made,” Ami looked actually angry now.

“Someone’s gonna see us,” Minori said, breaking her silence. This place was out of the way of most people, but it also had a set of stairs that would certainly be used.

“Oh, think they may get the wrong—or I guess right—idea?” Ami asked, looking at her hand. “This is not how it’s really done, you know,” she suddenly moved her hand, slamming it against the wall besides Minori’s head and stepping closer. “ _This_ is a kabedon,” she said, leaning so close that their noses almost touched. A tingly sensation made presence in the bridge of her nose, like when someone held a finger too close to it, only tenfold. “If you want me to step away, talk.”

Minori eyed Ami’s lips. Was she going to kiss her? No, she said she wouldn’t do that kinda stuff. Why was Minori even thinking about it? Stop it. “It’s… not you,” she said, closing her eyes. “I’m scared.”

“Of what?” Ami asked. Her breath was sweet with the artificial fruitiness of candy.

“Of where this is going.”

Ami didn’t say anything, so Minori opened her eyes to see a rare baffled expression on her. “I seriously don’t get you. We already talked about this.”

“No, no in that sense,” Minori said. Her heart was still pumping blood like it was its last day in the job, and her face would have probably stood out as the brightest spot in the vicinity if someone were to look at them with infrared goggles. “I’m the only one that can grant me happiness,” she explained, reminiscing the thing she’d said to Taiga back in what still felt like the worst day of her life.

“I don’t get you,” Ami said. Minori didn’t know if she should be scared or proud that her reasoning, for once, wasn’t obvious to the model.

“You start by helping out my team, but… then what? You try to help with my college, should I fail to get a scholarship?” Minori hadn’t actually thought about this, not consciously, but as the words left her mouth she realized this was exactly what had her worried. “You help me pay bills should I fail to get a job? Where do you draw the line?”

Understanding washed across Ami’s face. It relaxed, and to Minori’s surprise, she smiled. “I want to kiss you so much right now,” she mumbled. For a second she moved forward and their noses touched. Minori didn’t have where to run, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Ami, however, pulled back and sighed. “That’s all? You’re worried I may spend more money on you? Money isn’t really—”

“I know you have a job and are rich,” Minori interrupted. “That’s not the point, Ami. I don’t want you to be a protector or a safety net,” she explained, all her thoughts finally unraveling themselves thanks to realizing what bothered her, like a messy yarn ball. “I’ll take the money for the team, but you have to promise me you won’t take this further. You bought me a bat, you’re now basically buying new bats for everyone in my team. Promise me you’ll let me handle myself.”

“You’re taking it too seriously,” Ami shook her head. “I…”

“ _Promise me,_ ” Minori rose her hand, pinky extended.

“Fine,” Ami lifted her other hand and intertwined her pinky with Minori’s. “But if you ever _need_ help, don’t hesitate to ask.” She was genuine.

“I won’t,” Minori whispered, feeling strange.

Then, to her surprise, she leaned forward.

Her lips touched Ami’s. Silky smooth, with the same hint of candy she’d smelled before, and _so_ nice. Ami was very clearly surprised, but after a moment she kissed back, and it was far better than Minori had expected. Opposite to how it had been in the karaoke room, this time the need to run away didn’t rise. Instead, what followed was warmth born in her chest that spread to her entire body. Like hunger, it created a strange need. Minori pulled Ami closer by her hand, pushing up with her toes to press further into her.

Something was released inside of her. Like wings sprouting from her back, Minori suddenly felt lighter. She was kissing Ami. She was kissing a _girl._ And that girl was kissing back. She wasn’t sure about what this meant, or what impact it could have on her life, but in this moment none of it mattered. All she could think of was about how… _glorious_ this felt.

Then someone cleared their throat.

The two of them separated. Ami pushed herself away from the wall with so much force that she nearly tripped back. A moment of dread hit Minori, but as she poked her head out of the nook relief washed over her instead. It was just Ryuji.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t any less embarrassed, her face never losing that red tint.

“W-we were just…” Ami, for once, seemed unable to find proper words.

“H-hey, it’s ok,” Ryuji looked as embarrassed as they did, strangely enough. “I, uh… maybe you should be more careful. You know, uhm… Romance and stuff is forbidden inside school… I think…”

Ami seemed to regain some of her composure, taking a deep breath. “Thanks for the warning,” she said. “I’ll… keep it in mind,” she eyed Minori with a twinkle in her eye.

Minori, feeling like her breath had been stolen, nodded. “Sorry you had to see that, Ryuji,” she said.

“I’ll just, you know, go to the machines below. Uhm… have fun?” He awkwardly said before turning and going back downstairs.

After he disappeared, Ami turned to her and laughed. It was beautiful.

“Sorry,” Minori said, stepping away from the machines. “I don’t know what I was doing. Just a minute ago I was worried someone might see us, and then I go and do that…”

“Are you nuts? That was… great,” Ami grinned at her. “I was surprised, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.” She stepped closer to Minori. “Does… this mean…?”

Minori felt a pang of fear and guilt, and she stepped back. “I don’t know,” she said. She tried to recapture that freedom she’d felt while kissing Ami, but it was gone now, and worries began to flood the space left behind. “Give me a while to figure it out.”

Ami examined her. “Ok,” she said, relaxing. “I’m happy enough it was you who kissed me this time. In any case, want anything to drink?”

Minori smiled through her worries and nodded. Ami was too good for her. “Sure.”


	17. Chapter 17

Ami walked on clouds.

The echoes of her kiss with Minori still rattled her bones. Her entire body’s base temperature had to have gone up by a few degrees. A smile had settled on her face, and it wouldn’t go away. And Even after Minori had basically rejected her once again, she could tell this had been a massive leap forward.

She should try to pin Minori against walls more often.

“Someone’s cheerful today,” Yusaku mentioned as they walked together after school.

“Something good happened,” Ami looked at him with annoyance. “And I’m not very appreciative of the way you strong-armed me into this meeting,” she added.

Yusaku chuckled, but Ami could tell he was faking it. “I’m sorry,” he lied, “but I just had to be sure you were certain of your actions. It’s still not too late to back down.”

Ami rolled her eyes. The afternoon sun was high and the heat had started to become annoying. Soon they’d be in that annoying part of the year where mornings were too cold and days were too hot, making everyone dread wearing any kind of wardrobe because you’d suffer either way.

Still, the only thing that actually bothered her was that she wasn’t back at school watching Minori in her afternoon practice. Her every step away from there seemed a little harder, like she and Minori were connected by an invisible rubber band.

“Yusaku, you’re horrible at keeping secrets,” Ami said.

“Where’d that come from?” He said, sounding only a bit hurt.

“But I remember that one time, back in my beach house, where you actually managed to trick Taiga and Takasu. Remember that?”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded in satisfaction. “That was a real nice scare we gave them, eh?”

“Yes, but those two are as dense as rocks and just as stupid, so tricking them was child’s play. Now, I’m going to let you in a little secret, because I can see the gears of your mind turning and wondering why the hell I’m doing this.”

Yusaku paused. “You sound… serious,” he said, almost amused. “Can’t say I’m not curious, though.”

“Let’s go to a café and talk things out.”

Yusaku Kitamura had a busy life nowadays.

Being the head of the student council was already enough, but of course, he was studying hard—both for school and for his entrance exams. He planned on going to study abroad, which he knew wouldn’t be approved by the person he loved, but it was something he’d do nonetheless. So it was that he didn’t really have time to play softball anymore, and maybe something that bothered him even more, he barely hung out with his friends lately.

This meant he was out of the loop with their lives. He had been surprised the first time he’d seen Minori’s new bat, and even more so when he’d heard Ami had been going to watch softball practice. He had only talked to Ryuji in hallways and on passing, and knew he was doing fine, though it seemed he hadn’t clicked perfectly with his new classmates quite yet.

And the biggest change was the one he wouldn’t have seen coming in a million years.

“I like Minori,” Ami said to break the silence after they’d sat down with a couple of drinks. Yusaku had wanted to go to Jonny’s or somewhere more convenient for them, but Ami had led him to an out-of-the-way small café that didn’t look too successful. It was almost completely empty, save for a seemingly drunk man in one corner talking to himself while looking straight at an empty mug.

“Yeah, I like her too, she’s a good friend,” Yusaku replied, not sure where Ami was going with this.

She groaned, pinching her nose. “No, you moron: I _like_ her. Love her. Romantically,” she explained.

Yusaku blinked.

_Oh._

The revelation hit him like a well delivered punch to the face. He felt disoriented for a moment. “Huh, I can’t say I saw this coming,” he said, surprised. He tried looking back to his own memories, at the hint of this being a possibility. The only one he saw was the big donation she’d done, and that had been yesterday. “Is this a new thing or…?”

“Are you asking for me liking Minorin, or girls in general?” She asked, anticipating his reaction.

“Uhm… both, I guess?” Yusaku leaned back, pensive. “Like, is Kushieda an exception or…?”

Ami took a sip of her drink. A big milkshake with a lot of cream on top. She hadn’t hesitated to ask for that when Yusaku said he’d pay. “I don’t really know. I certainly haven’t felt this way about any other woman, if that’s your question. The Minori thing, though? That’s harder to answer. Knowing when I started liking her is… complex.”

“Your relationship has always been a complex one,” Yusaku said, taking a sip of the cheap tea he’d asked for himself, to balance out Ami’s spending. He examined her face. She was good at hiding her emotions, but he didn’t see the need for that now. She sounded just bored. “I’m a bit surprised you told me, though. It must have required a lot of courage.”

Ami snorted. “You’re not the first one I tell. And I know you’re a good person, if nothing else.”

“I’m not the first one?” He was surprised by how that made him feel. Sad, maybe a bit hurt. “May I ask who was, then?”

“Ryuji, then Nanako and Maya,” Ami replied. “Don’t look so sad, I didn’t keep it from you out of spite.”

Yusaku pouted, feeling left out. “I’m hurt. I didn’t think we were best friends, but…” he sighed, shaking his head. “Well, it’s all in the past. So, what can I do to help?” He asked. Ami raised an eyebrow. “You know, like a friend and a wingman!”

Ami laughed. “Nothing, I’ve everything under control, _Maruo,”_ she said with a smirk. The nickname didn’t bother him coming from most people, but the way she used irked him.

“Do you think Kushieda likes you back?” He asked, trying to figure out if he could help anyways.

“I wouldn’t be sure. You think her telling me that she likes me and kissing me are a fruit of romantic feelings?”

Yusaku blinked. “You’ve _kissed?”_ He was astonished.

“Two times,” Ami nodded, seemingly proud. “Well, more like one and a half.” This time, it was Yusaku’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “It’s complicated and not something I want to talk about.”

“Ok, fine… Then you two are dating?”

“Not… exactly,” Ami looked a bit uncomfortable. “Minori is a complicated person.”

“I could say the same about you,” Yusaku chuckled. “But I’ve noticed you don’t keep up that façade so much anymore. It’s reassuring.”

“Yeah, but not a lot of people know the real me still. You, Takasu and Minori. And the runt, but we don’t talk about her,” Ami’s voice whenever she spoke of Taiga seemed to have a mix of anger and longing… no, not exactly longing. She spoke less like a friend and more like a mafia boss whose old rival had disappeared from the underworld. The girls never liked each other, but here had been respect in the middle.

“What about Kihara and Kashii?” Yusaku asked after Ami’s best friends.

“They sometimes see through the cracks,” Ami said. “They know me better than most, but I’m never fully myself with them. I’m still a bit afraid that if they see the worst of me they’ll run away.”

Yusaku had known Ami to be like this, but it still saddened him a bit that she still had those trust issues. “You know, if they took well the news about your, uhm… preference, then I doubt they’d turn away from the real you.”

Ami looked annoyed for a second. “You’d be surprised. They don’t have a problem with me liking girls, but my attitude could be a completely different thing. Believe it or not, my personality isn’t linked to who I like.”

“I guess you’re right, but still,” Yusaku took his drink. It was awful, so he gulped it in one go. “So, I’m assuming you’ll keep going with the donation no matter what?”

“No hesitation,” Ami nodded. She then checked the clock on the wall. “If I hurry, I may make it back before practice ends…”

Yusaku smiled. It was kinda funny, how different Ami acted. Not unexpected, but certainly refreshing. He smiled at his friend, momentarily forgetting whatever worries about the nature of her crush he held. “I can tell you’ve got it bad, but don’t forget to study and do your best.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she began drinking the milkshake fast. “Anything else you have to tell me, Mister President?”

“If you ever need the keys to an empty classroom, you can always ask,” he said with a wink and a thumb up.

“Oh shut up,” Ami said, throwing a napkin at him.

Maybe for the first time in his life, he saw her blush.

“Come on everyone, we can do this!” Minori yelled to her girl teammates as they played on a practice game against the boys in preparation for next week. “We’re only one point behind!”

Her teammates all cheered in unison. Minori prepared her pitch.

She had thrown two balls to the up-left corner of the left-handed batter, and he’d swung and missed in both. He was probably expecting her to either do the same or follow it up with an opposite pitch to throw him off guard. She wasn’t a mind reader, but maybe if she could just predict this correctly, it’d give them the edge they needed.

She winded up for the throw.

A spark of recognition reached her brain before her thoughts caught up. Her eyes picked up the slight wave of blue hair from the corners of their vision. The ghost of a touch on her lips, the feeling of freedom.

She pitched.

It was god damn slow ball down the center.

Maybe it had been Ami’s plan from the beginning, or maybe she somehow noticed Minori’s horrible pitch, but a cry came from her. “Batter, good luck!” she cried. The guy, as any person in his position would, couldn’t help looking at the school’s most loved figure and was one beat too late to the swing. “Strike three! Out!” the umpire called.

The batter looked at his hands, looked at Ami, and turned away in shame.

This was the last inning, which meant if the girls got just two runs in they won. Minori was unlikely to get a chance at batting, so instead of going with the rest of her team to prepare, she walked to the side, where Ami looked at her with a knowing smirk.

“Thanks for the save,” Minori said.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you floundering with that ball when I stepped into your cone of vision,” she smiled.

Minori wasn’t going to deny the obvious. Instead, she just considered what she’d just felt. Disappointment had been dawning on her when Ami had yet again not shown up for practice, and she couldn’t ignore the obvious excitement rushing through her right now. Most importantly, that momentary glimpse into how it had felt to kiss Ami, that recaptured sensation.

“Hey, Ami, do you… have anything to do this afternoon?” Minori asked.

Ami beamed. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Minori smiled awkwardly. “Well, something like that.”


	18. Chapter 18

“You know, I didn’t expect you to be so thrilled about this,” Minori said after she delivered another package.

“I could say something clichéd like ‘It’s fun as long as I’m with you’ or something,” Ami retorted, “but the truth is that I’m just _really_ hoping I get a goodbye kiss at the end of this all.”

Walking down the street next to Minori proved to be more fun than she was letting on, Ami had come to appreciate, but better to keep Minori guessing for now. She did want another kiss. And a thousand more.

The streets of the warm afternoon were busy, and as they made their way across the houses and shops, each at a different side of Minori’s bike, Ami wondered if she could get away with putting one hand over Minori’s. Maybe no-one would be able to tell… “Now that I think about it, I thought you did deliveries on Thursdays and Tuesdays.”

“I asked if they wanted some extra help,” Minori said with a smile. “Even if one job closes, that just means I’ve two afternoons free now!”

Ami gave her the flattest look she’d ever given anyone in her life.

“Don’t be like that,” Minori complained. “I like working, Ami. I don’t do it simply because it helps me keep my mind off complicated stuff.”

“But that’s a big part of it,” she said.

“I like feeling self-sufficient. I don’t like procrastinating.”

Ami rolled her eyes. “Enjoying some free time is _not_ procrastinating, Minori. You like to say things about enjoying our youth and all, but all you do is act hyper and the only thing you truly enjoy doing—and that I have come to enjoy watching you do—is softball.”

“And you’re going to change that?” Minori asked.

This gave Ami some pause. “Man, you’re _sharp_ when you want to,” she commended, feeling like she’d been stabbed but the pain hadn’t registered yet. What Minori said held some truth to it, even if Ami herself hadn’t actively attempted to take Minori away from her work obsession. “Yeah, I’d like to change a bit of that.”

Minori sighed. “In any other situation, I’d probably be mad. But…” she shook her head. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah?”

“I think… I think I finally saw a ghost today.”

Ami stopped dead on her tracks.

“It was… small. And scared,” Minori stopped too, turning with a serious face. “It only peeked from around a corner, afraid of what the world held for it,” she spoke in a low tone. To anyone else, this would have sounded stupid. To Ami herself it would have, in any other situation. “But it was also hopeful. It had finally gotten free, and though it’s hesitant to fully go out into the world, I’m sure it’ll get there someday.”

“Minori…” Ami was glad that bike was in the way. Otherwise she may have gone for a hug, or worse. She wasn’t the most touchy-feely person, but Minori looked like she needed some physical reassurance.

“If you don’t get bored, let’s finish my rounds. Maybe we can talk a more properly after that.”

Ami nodded, walking behind Minori as she resumed her walk.

Her heart hadn’t just skipped a beat there. It had done a full somersault.

The silence was awkward, but Minori wasn’t sure of what to say.

She’d finished her rounds and now she and Ami were walking side by side while Minori returned with the bike between them. They walked in silence all the way back to the store, and even after Minori’s boss praised her and complimented Ami on her looks, a strange air flowed in between them.

Anticipation.

 _A goodbye kiss,_ Minori thought, looking at Ami from the corner of her eyes. A part of her told her the sun should’ve been setting, but they still had a good hour of daylight left. She was still used to her winter schedules. Even then, there was a definite air of finality to the day as people began walking slower, no longer as rushed as in other times of the day, and as businesses began closing their doors.

“You don’t mind if I walk you to your house?” Ami finally broke the silence.

“It’s way too far from yours, though,” Minori complained.

“Think I mind?” Ami smiled at her.

Minori tried not to be swayed, but failed. “I guess it’s ok…” she looked ahead, already feeling the pressure build up in her chest.

The silence kept reigning, and even after a couple more blocks, Ami seemed content to just walk next to her. There weren’t a lot of people on the streets now, which also meant less heads turning to look at them.

Their hands brushed. Accidentally, of course, but a slight misstep from the both of them gave away they’d noticed. Ami turned to look at Minori, but she kept her eyes nailed forward. She wasn’t sure of what to do, but she was somewhat scared of what might happen if she looked at Ami directly. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she had to control her breathing.

Even from the side, Minori could tell her friend was doing her best to respect her wishes.

Minori took a turn into a relatively narrow passage between two houses. In it, she stretched her fingers and brushed Ami’s hand once more, full of intent this time.

Without a word, Ami understood, and she slowly and gently took Minori’s hand in hers. They slowed their pace to a crawl, taking their sweet time in the short alleyway. They should’ve crossed it in thirty seconds. It took them at least two minutes.

When they approached the streets again, Ami let go. Minori wasn’t sure how, but Ami had understood what she wanted perfectly without needing to be told.

Or, well, almost perfectly. As was often the case lately, Minori herself wasn’t sure of what she wanted.

She quickly snatched Ami’s hand back, keeping a hold of it, and stopped her before she walked into the street. “Amin,” Minori said through the white noise in her ears and the storm forming in her chest.

The blue haired beauty looked around the corner before turning and taking them a step back into the alleyway. “Yeah?” She asked in a low tone. Behind them were a series of trash bags under a net. In front of them, the wall of a house with a window too high to peek into.

Their eyes met.

Minori wasn’t even sure of what she was doing. Something tugged at her heart, the eye of her storm shifting, making the raging wind of blood and emotions be dispersed into her entire body. She wondered if Ami could feel it, if the sudden rush of energy would be shared with her.

“I don’t know what to do,” Minori whispered, clutching to Ami’s hand like her life depended on it.

“What do you _want_ to do?” Ami took a step closer, like earlier today. Her face hardened, her eyes bursting with intensity. They were in both a secluded but public space, hidden but also exposed.

What did Minori want?

That was the ever unanswerable question in the long run.

But right now, she _really_ wanted to feel Ami’s lips again.

She brought a hand up, fast but also with enough time to let Ami back away if she wanted to. She didn’t, of course. While only slightly taller than Minori, Ami always seemed to tower over others, and now was no exception. As Minori slowly pulled her closer, she felt the need to go on the tips of her toes, to match her on her height even though Ami was perfectly capable of leaning down.

But that was too much effort. Letting go of Ami’s hand, she instinctively reached around her neck.

They kissed, and once again, Minori felt that lightness return.

Ami reached around Minori’s waist to pull her closer.

The back of her mind filled with worries. If someone with a camera saw her right now, in this position, with a girl… It could be a scandal for her. Her career could be over. Her plans for the future would go down the drain.

But she didn’t give any of those any purchase in her.

Minori’s kiss was light in the darkness. It was a burning hearth in a winter night, a fresh dive in the pool in a hot summer day. This single kiss was worth more than every single snack Ami had ever bought or would ever buy.

She pushed against Minori, and Minori pushed against her. They also pulled on each other with strength, with _need._ Ami hadn’t known how much she’d wanted this. She’d _thought_ she’d known. She’d thought she’d gotten a good taste of this earlier in the vending machines.

But no. _This_ was a proper kiss. Their arms around each other, their lips dancing to unheard music, their bodies looking to merge by sheer willpower. After who knew how long, Ami understood; _finally_ understood. All their discussions, all their fights. She’d never held ill will towards Minori, despite what might have happened. Even in their lowest moments.

How hurt she’d felt at Minori for avoiding her during the skiing trip. How annoyed she’d been at the notion of Minori giving up romance. How much she’d connected with her when she’d fallen on her knees in her house.

“I like you,” Ami mumbled into Minori’s lips, so needy that she didn’t want to break it. The words had been spoken on their own. Her feelings had just completely overflowed.

Minori clearly felt that too. “I’m sorry,” she said, barely managing in the face of Ami’s onslaught.

“For what?” With a horrible amount of effort, Ami was able to break the kiss to look at Minori with worry.

“For being like this,” Minori said. “I’m so… scared, of what this means, in more ways than one.”

Ami surged forward, stealing Minori’s lips again. “Shut up and keep kissing me.”

But this time Minori pushed her away. “We’ve been at this for a while, maybe we should…” she looked down, face going red. “Pick this up somewhere else?”

Ami’s face went red too. “I’m not against that idea.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Ami said as they sat down in Minori’s bed. It was a small room, compared to Ami’s, but she didn’t want to talk in the kitchen. “I was expecting… an emptier house, if you get what I mean.”

Minori fought back the embarrassment this whole ordeal brought to her. “Yeah, what I said came off a bit more suggestive than I expected,” she said.

Ami didn’t reply immediately, instead looking around. Minori found her scrutiny somewhat nerve-wrecking. Would she see something she didn’t like? Would any of Minori’s posters, some sports related, some she’d hung there as a kid, make her rethink her opinion on this?

This, however, was not a bad thing to be worrying over. It just meant she cared for what Ami thought. It meant she wasn’t misunderstanding herself. In a way, being so nervous was reassuring.

“Eh, it’s fine. I won’t claim to have any… experience,” Ami’s voice lowered in the last word, despite her best attempt at appearing unfazed. “But enough of that, we came here for a reason, didn’t we?” she asked, turning to her.

Minori’s heart began pounding. She still felt the lingering lightness of that kiss outside. But being here somehow proved to be scarier. Who knew if a family member would suddenly step inside her room without knocking and catch them in the middle of kissing?

She didn’t fail to notice, though, that despite her obvious intention, Ami hadn’t actually moved closer. As before, she allowed Minori to be the one to make the first move. Maybe because of what had happened in the karaoke room.

“Before that, I… wanna talk about this,” she said, moving back and resting on the wall. “I know what I said before, but maybe we could try…” she trailed off, not sure how to put it.

“Dating?” Ami suggested.

“Something like that?” Minori smiled in the face of her own uncertainty. “I’m not sure of what’s best for me. You distract me; more than I’ve realized. Maybe if we take that last step this strangeness inside me will go away.”

Ami mimicked her, moving and leaning her back on the wall. She carefully reached for Minori’s hand, and took it when it didn’t move away. “I know this must be scary,” Ami said. “For many reasons. You’re afraid to get hurt. We have a rocky history and often disagree strongly with each other. We’re both girls. I’m famous. You have to worry about training, and there’s always studying.”

Minori took all of this in. “It’s almost scary how easily you can tell what I’m thinking,” she said. “Save for the famous part. I don’t really care about that too much,” she smiled.

Ami slid a bit closer, making their shoulders touch. “That was for me. Besides not liking anyone, why do you think I’ve never dated?” She asked, some bitterness slipping into her voice. “If I were to date someone, they’d get shit for it. You see how the partners of really famous people get harassed every day by fans, and I’m not immune to that. On top of that, my mother has a lot of friends in the movie industry. A lot of people expect me to marry a famous guy in the future.”

“Sounds… awful,” Minori said.

“I don’t give it any thought,” Ami shrugged. “Though it’s a factor. The other one is that boys are stupid. The only two guys I know to act genuinely around me are Yusaku and Takasu.”

“They’re good friends,” Minori agreed.

“And girls… well, they’re easier to approach, but I know a lot of them don’t like me,” Ami sighed. “Whether I act like myself or like a kind idiot, there’s always stupid rumors going around and…”

Minori squeezed her hand, which made Ami pause. “They’re jealous of you. Don’t give them the benefit of feeling bad because of what they say.”

“I never quite got that part of you,” Ami sighed. She leaned on Minori’s shoulder, making her freeze. “You’re always trying to look at the bright side of things in most aspects of life, but you closed off your emotional doors.”

“We all have our weaknesses,” Minori said, allowing herself to rest her head on Ami’s. If someone entered her room now, it’d probably be as bad as if they were kissing, but she found that she didn’t care. Not right now. “Well, most of us. You’re… really strong, Ami. It’s one of the things I admire about you.”

Ami chuckled. “So strong that I ran away from my entire life because of a single stalker,” she said with sarcasm.

“He could’ve been dangerous,” Minori defended her. “You couldn’t know.”

“I got him to leave me alone in one serious try,” Ami replied.

“Don’t,” Minori said with some extra strength put into her voice. “You’re not weak for being scared, Ami…” she trailed off.

“What? Realized your hypocrisy?”

“Today seems to be the day of realizing stuff about myself thanks to you.”

“Good,” Ami moved her head so that she could look at Minori. “I know you’re still scared, but I want you to know how much I appreciate what happened today. And this. I know I can be an ass, but if you’re not ready yet I will wait for as long as you need,” she said. “Even if you don’t want to date. Though I wouldn’t mind a few kisses here and there, of course…”

“I want to date,” Minori found the words far easier to say than she’d expected. Ami’s eyes widened with hope. “When we kissed today, I realized that being with you makes me… happy. Maybe not in the same way being with Taiga did, but you bring something new out of me.”

“The innate need to punch each other in the face?” Ami asked.

“That was only once,” Minori chuckled. “But it’s definitely related to your face,” she said, looking at Ami and tilting her head.

Kissing from this position was a bit awkward, so she shifted in place, turning towards Ami. This time, the kiss wasn’t as deep or as strong as it had been on the street. It was a subtle one, a soft caress after a powerful hug. Their lips lingered on each other for only a few seconds, accompanied by the subtlest of brushes from each other’s breaths.

“I’m never gonna get tired of this,” Ami said when they separated.

“Ami, will you go out with me?” Minori asked.

Ami raised an eyebrow. “I thought we’d already established you wanted to date.”

“I needed to ask properly!” Minori explained.

“Fine,” Ami said reluctantly. “Please take care of me, yada yada yada,” she shook her head. “Now, can we go back to kissing?”

Maybe having it said so easily and without hesitation was a part of it, but Minori suddenly felt like the last remaining chain around her body had been released.

She grinned. Something had changed inside her right at that moment. It wasn’t like all her worries were gone, but they had taken a backseat to something else. “I would love to,” she said, leaning into Ami.

Ami came back home and took a deep breath.

She took her phone and called her mother. Maybe she should talk to Minori about this, but it was ultimately something she wanted to be done with sooner rather than later. If she was to tell someone about this, her mother needed to be the first one.

“Hello!” her mother said, excitedly. “It’s been a while since _you_ called _me._ ”

“I know,” Ami dropped on her bed, facing the ceiling. “I need to tell you something.”

“Oh?” Anna sounded amused.

“I’m dating someone.”

The following silence was long enough for Ami to wonder if the call had been interrupted. So it was a surprise when her mother squealed in her ear. “Ami, sweetie, I’m surprised this hasn’t somehow made the news!”

“We technically only started going out today, uhm…” Ami paused, not knowing how to continue.

“You need to tell me who it is. Oh, I may take a break to go meet them!” She sounded excited. Ami had always expected her parents to be a bit more reluctant about their daughter dating.

Then again, Anna still didn’t have the full picture. “Mom, not so fast, there’s… something else.”

“Hmm… you sound so hesitant,” her mother said.

“Listen, the person I’m dating might… not be what you expect,” she tried to smooth the ground for the explanation.

However, there was one thing Ami had forgotten. Her mother’s uncanny ability to read her like an open book. “Wait a second…” she said. “Didn’t you tell me last week that you and Kushieda had become really good friends?”

“I, uhm…” Ami was starting to see the mistake of telling her mother about her growing relationship with the redhead.

“You’re dating her, aren’t you?” she sounded severe.

“Maybe…” Ami trailed off. Her heart was tightening in her chest with anxiety.

“Then I guess I was right!” Her mother suddenly claimed, victorious. “I knew you’d be closer to her than any of your other friends,” she said, satisfied with herself.

The corners of Ami’s lips twitched, not knowing if they should smile or frown. “That’s not the reaction I expected,” Ami said. “I expected you to be…”

“Angry? Disappointed?”

“A bit more reserved.”

“Oh Ami, don’t tell this to your father, but I had some experiences with girls when I was your age too,” she explained. Ami’s eyes widened. This was a part of her mother she knew nothing about. “But, well, the world is what it is, and society has expectations of you… which were much stronger back in my day. I found him and ultimately married, but I can easily imagine another me who may have gone a different route.”

“Mom, that’s… I’m surprised,” Ami said, not sure how to feel.

“Well, let me tell you a secret: You can’t be into the acting business without being at least a bit outside the norm,” her mother sounded conspiratorial. “Each one of us is eccentric in our own little ways,” she giggled. “But if you’re worried about us accepting you… Well, don’t. And if your father has any qualms about it I’ll be sure to slap them out of him.”

After a moment of shock, Ami’s chest swelled with affection. “Thanks a lot, mom. I love you.”

“You’ll have to present her to me next time we meet, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah… Oh, hey, since we’re at it,” an idea sprung into Ami’s brain.

“What is it?”

“Can I burrow the beach house this year too?”


	19. Chapter 19

They won their next game.

Minori was at her best. She hadn’t gotten a strikeout as a batter and she had only allowed two runs in as a pitcher. Though during half the game someone else was on the mound, the team still clamored her for their victory. And maybe, just maybe, they had a point this time.

After all, Minori had scored a bases-loaded home run.

When the game was over and everyone had had their fun, Minori had gone out of her way to the nearest water source to refresh herself. This wasn’t their school, so she didn’t want to lose too much time in there. Still, these faucets were surprisingly empty, given the growing heat and the amount of people who had been standing out in the sun during the game.

“You’re a great player,” Ami’s voice came from behind.

Minori turned, hair dripping, eyes a bit blurry with water. She blinked away the drops and smiled. Ami was wearing a casual disguise, but due to the temperature she still wore light clothing that quickly gave away her natural beauty. With just a pair of glasses and a cap to hide her long hair, Minori was surprised no-one had recognized her. Or if they had, they’d been respectful enough to not go around following her.

“Thanks,” Minori said. Then she got an idea and shook her head.

“H-hey, cut it out!” Ami complained, jumping back.

Minori chuckled. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she said, slicking her hair back to be able to see. Ami was giving her an annoyed look.

“I’d be far angrier if you didn’t look so good with your hair soaked like that.” She walked closer, but kept Minori at arm’s length. One of the rules they’d agreed upon for both their sakes: Don’t do anything at school. Or, alternatively, at events like these.

“Did you just come here to congratulate me?” Minori raised an eyebrow.

Ami smiled. “No, I came here because I wanted to see you,” she said. “We didn’t do anything together yesterday, after all.”

Minori gave her an apologetic look. Minori had made the choice to not take another part-time job to replace her Wednesday and Friday schedules, instead choosing to use those days to hang out with Ami—which had also helped take another edge off their relationship, as Ami was now happy Minori allowed herself breaks. However, yesterday had been a bit of an exception, because the club had also practiced late into the afternoon in preparation for today’s game.

“You know skipping school because of this is bad, right?” Minori said.

“It’s not technically skipping,” Ami shrugged. Saturday classes were optional, sure, but students who cared for their future attended them. Then again, Ami already had a future carved out, so it made some sense she wouldn’t worry too much. “But I’m not here for that. Are you planning on going on a celebration with your team or something?”

Minori shook her head. “Nah, we wouldn’t waste your money like that. We’re gonna use the extra budget for replacing some of the older equipment.”

Ami looked bored. “Well that’s unimpressive, but I guess I gave that money to you for a reason. Does that mean you’ve a free afternoon?”

“I guess I do,” Minori said with a smile.

Dating was fun.

In truth, it wasn’t that different from hanging out with a friend. But the intention behind it all changed the meaning of the small things. The brush of a hand, the bump of their shoulders, meeting eyes… It all seemed coated in shiny new paint.

And, of course, there was the part where they looked for private places to, maybe, kiss each other a bit.

Ami eyed Minori. They were walking down a commercial district far from each of their homes, just to try and stay away from any prying eyes. Ami was, of course, still wearing her disguise.

“Look, Ami!” Minori said, excitedly running away from her and pointing at a small lottery stand. There, a wheel turned and according to the sign, the first price was a two-person trip to some hot springs. “Wanna give it a go?”

Naturally, Ami knew she wouldn’t win. But since they’d begun dating, Minori had been slowly going back to her old genki self around her, and Ami was deeply appreciative of that. “Sure, why not.”

They paid the old man running the thing and spun the hamster-wheel like device. Most balls were white, and they’d only get a small pack of tissues as a consolation prize. Then there was a bronze ball, which would get them tickets for a free dinner at a restaurant not far from here. Not a fancy one, but a free meal was a free meal. The second prize, a silver ball, was a month’s supply of toilet paper, which Ami was sure some people would love to get. And of course, the golden ball was the trip.

They each got a pack of tissues.

“Didn’t expect to get the trip,” Ami said, looking at her prize, “but the dinner would’ve been nice.”

“Well, maybe I’ve already spent today’s luck in the game… If we’d gotten the toilet paper, how would we split it?” Minori asked.

“That’s what you’re wondering about?” Ami laughed.

Minori giggled too. She walked with her bat strapped to her back, which made Ami smile a bit. It was just a bat, it didn’t really have that much of an impact in Minori’s playing, but there was something… nice about this whole ordeal.

They walked in silence for a minute, looking at the windows of different shops. Ami spotted few dresses that she liked, though they were out of fashion, and Minori seemed to linger on the silly things they came across. They pointed each other to things they may like, and by the time they reached the end of the street, they hadn’t bought a single thing. Ami had offered, of course, but Minori had refused vehemently.

In fact, in a moment Ami had distracted herself with a surprisingly nice dress, Minori sneakily bought a couple of ice-creams for them. After getting those, they decided it was around time to move on from this place. Ami suggested they go back to her place.

She carefully avoided to mention that there was no-one there, just in case.

“You’ve got another game next week, right?” Ami asked after a while.

“A couple. And they’re gonna get more common. We’ll have to see if we make it far this year, though,” Minori said.

“You don’t sound too hopeful.”

“I really believe in our team, but we’re not really on the same level as the best. We’re still giving it our all, though!” She pump-fisted as she yelled.

Ami smiled. When Minori lowered her hand, she subtly grabbed it. “Well, you’re definitely _my_ favorite player,” she said.

Minori took a step closer, kind of hiding their hands from the public’s eyes. “That was really corny.”

“I know,” Ami said. She held back from leaning and pecking Minor’s cheek, but she did squeeze her hand. “I also mean it.”

“Thank you,” Minori smiled.

They walked close, hand in hand, for a long while after the conversation ended.

“Of all the things we could be doing,” Ami said, “and you choose studying.”

“Finals are coming right up,” Minori chastised. “And you said you hadn’t even done your homework.”

“Minorin, I can handle my studies. My grades are fine.”

“Well then, let’s finish this and maybe then we can have some fun,” Minori said. She held a straight face as she looked down at Ami’s notes, but inside she was screaming at how that had come out. “You can think of relaxing when summer break comes.”

“Ah, yes, summer break…” Ami lazily wrote some things down on the page. “After last year, this one’s gonna feel… kinda boring.” Minori looked up, seeing that Ami was melancholic. “Yusaku is still too busy, Taiga is who knows where, and inviting Ryuji along with the two of us would only make him feel like a third wheel.”

The words Ami had uttered registered in Minori’s brain with some delay. “Wait, _along_ with the two of us?”

Ami looked up. “Oh, right. I… was going to invite you to go to my beach house again,” she smiled. “Guess I forgot to mention it. I already asked my parents, we can go there for a week if we want.”

“A week alone,” Minori said. “Just the two of us.” It was a statement, not a question.

Something shifted in Ami’s face. It seemed to become sharper, a teasing smile appearing into her lips. “Basically, yeah,” she said in a lower voice. “We can do… _whatever_ we want,” she explained.

Despite giving it her all, Minori couldn’t avoid picturing what Ami was implying. This, in turn, made her go beet red. “I-I see,” she tried to keep a level voice.

Ami chuckled. “Sometimes you still act like a kid,” she said. “The mere mention of sex makes you so embarrassed…”

“Hey!” Minori pointed an accusatory finger. “You also said you have no experience!”

“Well, duh,” Ami shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I have to get embarrassed just for thinking about it.”

Minori frowned. “Well, that’s because you’re not the one with the godly body! Imagining you naked is…” she paused, realizing what she was saying.

Now _that_ got a reaction out of Ami, who’d grown a bit red herself. “D-don’t put yourself down like that. You’re plenty sexy too,” she said, looking away. “Don’t think I haven’t looked at you while we were swimming.”

The revelation only made Minori’s burning face worse, mostly because she had been really careful _not_ to ogle Ami too much while in class. “T-that’s… nice to hear,” she said, her voice lowering a few pitches.

An awkward silence settled between them. Minori couldn’t help eyeing Ami’s light clothing, at her arms with their pale skin now a bit red thanks to all the time they spent in the sun.

“How would we…” Minori broke the silence. “How would we do it?” she asked, accepting that the flush of her face was there to stay, for now.

Ami was clearly caught off-guard by the question, because she turned with an almost indignant look and got as red as Minori felt. “D-don’t ask me!” she said. “We already established I don’t know!”

Minori’s voice trembled a little as she spoke her next words, “Do you want to… try it?”

The pure shock in Ami’s face, the way she froze, told Minori that despite everything, she hadn’t actually expected anything to happen here today. Minori felt her chest tighten, her pulse accelerating with every second. What if Ami said yes?

“You’re far bolder than I expected, I’ll give you that,” Ami said, putting her pen down. “But maybe it’d be for the best if we didn’t.”

Minori tilted her head. “Really? Why?”

“Because,” Ami paused. “I have the feeling if we open that gate now, we’re not gonna be able to close it, and as of right now we need to focus on exams.”

“Weren’t you the one just complaining about studying?” Minori asked, but inside she was actually glad. Not because she didn’t want to do it, but because she wasn’t quite ready.

“Yeah, but if we’re already pretty distracted with each other, I don’t wanna know how much _more_ distracted we can be if we’re also thinking about fucking,” she explained.

“That’s a nice way to put it,” Minori chuckled. “Then… what? Does this mean you wanna wait until summer break?”

Ami nodded. “Basically. But…” she leaned over the tea table, stealing a soft but meaningful kiss from Minori. “We can still do this.”

Before she backed away, Minori pulled her by the back of her head into another, more intense kiss. When they separated, all the tension from the sex talk had gone away. “And I’m glad that’s the case,” she said, winking.

Ami smiled and went back to doing her homework, and Minori allowed the racy thoughts to drift away from her mind. For now, at least.


	20. Chapter 20

The landscape of the city changed to that of the countryside, the green land and blue sky sometimes pierced with small groups of buildings becoming the new norm as they made their way to Ami’s beach house.

They sat next to each other in the surprisingly busy train, a comfortable silence between them. Minori sometimes had sparks of recognition as she looked outside the window, places they’d seen the last time they had traveled. And a soft melancholy had settled on her chest, memories of last year’s summer vacation and how different, both in good and bad ways, this year was.

Ryuji and Yusaku had been supportive and somewhat awkward when they’d told them they were dating, though Ryuji had gotten a boost in motivation to finally make all the stupid rumors about him and Ami stop. Ami’s friends had mostly been teasing. Everyone else, though, was in the dark, including their families. Minori wasn’t sure how to break it to them… or if she should. She didn’t know how her parents would take it.

Ami, on the other hand, was less worried. She said her relatives probably wouldn’t care, and her parents—or at least her mother—was in the know and, according to Ami, was surprisingly excited about the idea of them dating.

Minori wondered what this meant for them. She didn’t think her parents would hate her, of course, but she also had trouble imagining them being fully supportive. Or maybe that was just her fear. She couldn’t help think of her mother being disappointed, of her father giving her the cold shoulder.

The duality inside of her, she feared, might be a detriment to her enjoyment of the trip. The freedom of being with Ami, of finally being able to _see_ the ghost she’d given up on looking for, and the uncertainty that the ghost being not what she expected brought into her life.

She was resolute not to let Ami handle her problems. Minori would sort her life by herself, once they came back from the trip. She did, however, have some doubts about whether this relationship of theirs could last or not. Maybe it would be for the best if…

Her train of thought was cut off by Ami’s head suddenly resting on her shoulder. “You look down,” said the blue haired girl with her eyes closed.

“It’s nothing,” Minori said. Then she yelped as Ami suddenly started to tickle her from the side. “H-hey! What’s this for?” She said between laughs.

“Don’t’ give me that crap, tell me what’s in your mind,” Ami complained, frowning with her eyes still closed.

She let her go, and Minori couldn’t help a smile. “Sorry.” She leaned against Ami. “I just wonder about what’s to come.”

“Five days and four nights of fun?” Ami suggested, though her voice had lowered considerably.

After giving it some thought, Minori carefully wrapped an arm around Ami’s shoulders. A part of her wanted to make sure Ami didn’t ever have any doubts about how Minori really felt, after all the troubles she’d caused. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess all the stress from the games and the exams has tired me up.”

Ami mumbled something, and then nothing. Minori hadn’t understood, and then she realized Ami’s body had become a bit heavier, and her breathing had slowed. Some guilt flooded into Minori. Why would she ever consider this relationship may not last? She ought to be more positive.

To focus on what she could see. To bring herself happiness.

She needed to stop worrying over ‘what ifs’. Ami was next to her. _That_ was something she could see, and something that brought her joy.

It also made her hot. With the sunrays hitting her torso and Ami sleeping against her, the train’s cooling was starting to lack.

The trip wouldn’t last much longer, though. She’d let Ami be. In the end, having the model resting on her like that also made her warm inside, and it had nothing to do with ambient temperature.

As expected, the way up until the beach house this year had been a lot more… relaxed.

Ami sighed in satisfaction as they finally entered the house, the wooden floor greeting them with a shine that implied someone had been here not long ago. “Huh, that’s weird,” she said, looking around.

Minori stepped in behind her and looked around. “It hasn’t changed one bit. Though it’s clean. Did someone stay here?”

“Not that I know,” Ami was confused. “Well, we’ll figure it out later. Do you want to stay in the same room you used last year?” She said, figuring she’d call her mother later. Maybe she and her dad had been here for a couple days? Or maybe they’d lent it to someone else? Hard to say.

She stepped further into the house, waiting for Minori’s reply, which didn’t come. When she reached the door to the kitchen/dining room, Minori’s hesitant voice made her stop. “I, uhm… assumed we’d be staying together.”

Ami’s face reacted before her, growing hot. “That,” she carefully said, “makes sense.”

When she turned, Minori was smiling nervously. “But hey, it’s pretty hot, maybe we don’t really wanna sleep next to each other like that,” she said.

“Oh no, don’t you back off now,” Ami pointed a finger at her. “Go pick whatever room you like, we’ll sleep there.”

“Got it, boss!” Minori said, grabbing all of their luggage in surprisingly strong arms and hauling it upstairs.

Ami opened the door to the kitchen and looked out the big windows towards the sea. A part of her wanted to just run down there and bathe in the sea. Another part of her wanted to instead go upstairs and maybe do something with Minori.

A third, bigger part of her, realized they should probably take the motorcycle and go buy groceries before they did anything even remotely fun. They needed to eat something, after all.

Still, opening the sliding door and stepping outside wasn’t too much work, so she did it. The view from the porch was, as she’d told everyone last year, quite stunning.

Memories of her friends running downstairs that first time coming here flooded Ami. Well, everyone but the cleaning-crazed Ryuji. Ami closed her eyes against the sun, remembering how hard she’d flirted back then. And how hard she’d been ignored.

“Well, our things are set in the room closest to the bathroom,” Minori claimed, startling Ami. She didn’t seem to notice it. “That way we don’t have to walk far if we wake up in the night to pee.”

Ami turned, resting her elbows on the railing. Minori stepped next to her and took a deep breath of the sea breeze. “It’s lucky the house is clean, really,” Ami said. “This year we don’t have five people to help out with the cleaning.”

“That, and Ryuji probably outdid us all together,” Minori chuckled. “Taiga is really lucky to have him.”

Despite knowing exactly what Minori was referring to, a pang of jealousness flashed through her. With a swift movement, Ami slid behind Minori and wrapped her arms around her waist. “And I’m lucky you two didn’t end together,” she said.

A small pause followed. Ami had a moment of panic, realizing what she’d said. _Way to go, rubbing salt in the wound,_ she chastised herself. However, Minori leaned back into her. “Yeah, you are,” she said with some tease in her tone. No sadness or regret.

Ami smiled, putting her cheek against Minori’s and ignoring the growing temperature. “We should go buy whatever we’re gonna eat for today and for breakfast tomorrow.”

“We should also buy a ton of ice-cream,” Minori said.

“Agreed,” Ami said. “Maybe we should buy nothing but. I love ice-cream.”

“I feel like that’d be bad for me,” Minori said.

“And not for me?”

“Well, I know you can eat pretty much anything without growing fat, so I’m not sure…” she joked.

“Hey, I go to the gym to stay in form, you know,” Ami complained. She pulled away from Minori, mostly because they were starting to get a bit sticky.

“You do?” Minori seemed honestly surprised as she turned her head to look at her.

“… sometimes,” Ami diverted her eyes. “I may have been slacking a bit. But I still go at least once a week…! I think. Three times a month for sure.”

“Hmm… You may have to join the team yet, Ami,” Minori said. “To keep up that shape.”

Ami raised an eyebrow. “Really? Now? It won’t be long until you have to step back from club activities to study for real,” she said, crossing her arms. “In fact, this is probably the last time we’ll be able to be so care-free, and I’m sure some of the teachers would chew us out for not having brought any school material with us.”

“Speak for yourself!” Minori laughed in an exaggerated manner. “I did bring notebooks with me!”

To say Ami was astounded would be an understatement. “Wait, really?” She said, feeling slightly betrayed. “You do know I’m not going to let you study anyways, right?”

Minori paused. “Huh,” she blushed a bit. “I guess you wouldn’t,” a chuckle came to her; nervous but with a hint of something else. “All these subtle talks about what we’re gonna do only makes it seem like something more abstract, for some reason.”

“I think it’s just that you’re not so self-conscious about it anymore,” Ami shrugged. “But whatever. Ready to go on a ride?”

The redhead nodded with excitement. “Let’s go!”

Minori stumbled into the relatively small room, Ami tailing her, and they both dropped on the bed next to each other. “I ate too much,” Ami said in a groan.

“I _cooked_ too much,” Minori replied, understanding how Ami felt. “I thought doing half as much as what we had last year would do, but I forgot Taiga eats like three people,” she felt her stomach grumble, complaining about all the food she’d dropped in it.

“I couldn’t even eat ice-cream,” Ami seemed genuinely hurt by that. “I hate you so much right now.”

“I’m glad to know my food was so good.”

“Yeah, it was pretty good. Takasu cooks better though.”

“Oh shut up!” Minori playfully pushed her.

“Ah, wanna play?” Ami pushed her too. They entered a small grappling match for a moment, but then they paused as Ami gave Minori a knowing look. “You know, I think we could be playing somewhat differen-” she paused, retching. “Ok, let’s ignore that, if we get physical in any way I’m going to puke.”

Minori looked at her. They were so close. They were hot and a bit sweaty, though the sea breeze was cool and refreshing. Ami looked a bit pale, but otherwise was as beautiful as ever, and her sapphire eyes were as focused on Minori’s as Minori’s were on hers.

Which caused Minori to laugh. “I didn’t expect that what should have probably been my first time would be ruined by my own cooking.”

“Well, can’t say I expected my first time would be ruined by having eaten so much.” Ami turned, facing the ceiling. “But this may be for the best.”

“How so?”

“We’re both tired from the trip and the sea. It may be for the better if we do this tomorrow while in a better mood,” she explained.

Minori couldn’t really find anything to counter-argue. So instead, she simply scooted closer to Ami and wrapped an arm around her. “Then I guess we’re sleeping.”

“Aren’t you going to change out of those clothes? Or let me do it, since we’re at it?” Ami’s playful tone came back.

“I guess I should…” Minori yawned. “But then again, there’s not really much of a point to it, is there…”

“Don’t you dare fall asleep on me,” Ami ordered. But sadly for her, the heat of the room had really been dispersed by the sea breeze, and now her warmth had become a comfortable one next to Minori. Really, really comfortable.

Her voice sounded distant as Minori began to drift off. Before she fell fully asleep, though, Ami stopped fighting her and sighed.

“Good night, Minorin. I love you,” was the last thing Ami said—resignedly—before Minori fell asleep with a smile.


	21. Chapter 21

The sea was cool, but not uncomfortably so, and Ami enjoyed going up and down with the water, floating without effort. She wouldn’t stay here for long, but a part of her wondered if she could just close her eyes and fall asleep, lulled by the crashing waves and rocked by the ocean.

Since she didn’t want to drown, though, she eventually swam back to the beach, where Minori was resting on a towel under their parasol. Ami went to lie besides her, but paused for a moment, not even attempting to hide her intentions as she examined Minori’s toned body, paying close attention to all the parts of it she wanted to explore. She was wearing a bikini, so there was a lot of exposed skin for Ami to enjoy.

“Something the matter?” Minori asked, opening her eyes and noticing Ami.

Ami shook her head and finally sat down. “I was just admiring you,” she confessed.

“The way you say that, it’s as if I was the model with the perfect body,” Minori said.

“You may not be a model, but you have a perfect body. For me, at least.”

Minori chuckled. “I feel like half your comments since we arrived here have been suggestive,” she said.

“They have been,” Ami smirked. “But if you want, I can stop implying things and saying them outright.”

Minori turned in her towel, facing Ami. “Let’s make sure we don’t over-eat tonight,” she said in a serious tone.

“Got it,” Ami nodded, feeling a rush of excitement and anxiety, a mixture that would certainly grow stronger as night approached. Then she paused. _Why should we wait for the night, again?_

Before her thought managed to take off properly, though, her phone rang. She sighed as she fetched it from among her discarded clothes. It was her mother. “Hey Mom,” Ami said as she answered.

“Hello Ami, how’s your vacation going?” Anna asked.

“We arrived yesterday, you know. But we’re having fun,” Ami rested back on the towel.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” her mother said with a snicker.

Ami felt some heat rush to her face. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She said as if she was some clueless moron.

“Nothing, nothing,” Anna deflected. “Did you like how the house looked when you arrived? I sent a group to clean the day before you arrived,” she said.

“Oh, that was you,” Ami was a bit confused. “Thanks. Why did you do that?”

“Well, I figured my daughter would be too busy with her girlfriend to stop and clean, so…”

“Mom!” Ami cried, her blush becoming stronger as her mother laughed harder.

“You did pause to eat, right?” Anna asked in a still teasing tone.

“Goodbye!” Ami said indignant, ending the call with a snap of her flip phone.

When she turned again, she found Minori watching her with surprise. “… that sounded kinda bad.”

Ami, whose face was still hot, felt like pouting. “My mom is being… overly supportive, if you get what I mean,” she said, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes. “Ugh, now when we do it I’m gonna remember this and it’s gonna be so awkward.”

Minori laughed next to her. “Now I’m glad I didn’t tell my mom.”

“Hush, you,” Ami said, but she came out from behind her hands. “Now kiss me.”

“What?” Minori raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Do I need a reason to wanna kiss you?” Ami asked.

“Well, no, but…” she trailed off. “Is this a deflection tactic?”

“Maybe,” Ami propped herself up with an elbow and leaned over Minori. “Come on.”

Minori looked like she wanted to say something else, but losing her patience, Ami just dropped and shut her with her lips. The redhead tried to mumble something, then laughed into the kiss, which made Ami smile and press into her further.

Finally getting more into it, Minori put her arms around Ami’s waist. The sensation of her hand against bare skin made Ami all tingly, and it made her go more aggressive on the kiss, going in with her tongue. Minori started exploring her back, slowly, gently, but with firm, sure fingers.

Then she stopped, turning her face around to stop the kiss. “M-maybe we should save this for later,” she said in a rush.

Ami, though seeing the logic, felt a bit frustrated, so she instead kept her kiss going on Minori’s cheekbone. Minori closed her eye, chuckling as Ami moved down to her cheek, then to her jawline. “I don’t wanna stop,” Ami explained. Minori’s skin was salty.

“Ami, I’ve got sand all over my body,” Minori explained. “And unless we stop, I think it’s gonna get worse,” she explained.

Ami forced herself to stop. “Ugh, I hate that you’re right,” she said, moving back into her own towel. “Guess I’ll have to wait until after we’ve showered.”

“Yeah,” Minori said. “Though I wouldn’t mind if we keep-” she was cut off by the sound of Ami’s phone ringing again.

She picked it up with annoyance. “What now, mom?” Ami asked at her mother.

Anna proceeded to speak barely being able to hold back a laugh. “Please don’t forget to wash the sheets after-”

“DON’T EVER CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN!” Ami snapped, closing the phone and barely stopping herself from throwing it into the ocean.

Next to her, Minori started to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so mad,” she barely managed to say.

Ami’s anger blew away quickly, and she joined Minori in her laugh.

Night came once again, and this time, neither of them had eaten too much.

So it was that they both sat a bit awkwardly on their bed, eating ice-cream and holding hands. Minori finished hers first, and she waited patiently for Ami.

A thousand thoughts ran past her brain, so many and so fast that it all felt like white noise. Not a single one of them held, so it was the same as if her mind was empty. What to say, what to do, how to proceed, where to look, how to breathe, how to blink. With so much interference, all she could do was breathe and feel Ami’s warmth next to her. The night coolness had already washed over the room, allowing them to sit next to each other without it meaning suffering.

When Ami finished, she threw her stick into the trash and sat back against the wall, not saying anything for a while. Minori assumed she was going through the same stuff as she was.

“Now that we’re here,” Minori finally broke the silence. “It feels as if we’re on the edge of a cliff. About to jump off, but with the slight knowledge that there’s no turning back.”

Ami hummed. “I’m not going to ask why, exactly, you decided to use jumping off a cliff as an allegory for having sex,” she said, “but I will, instead, say that after so much buildup to this moment I have broken the barrier of nervousness and on the other side of it there’s only acceptance at the fact that we’re going to fuck up.”

“Well, the part about fucking is right,” Minori said.

They exchanged a look, and an easy chuckle came to them.

And a second later, Minori had thrown herself on top of Ami, pushing her down into the bed and kissing her so hard that for a second she wondered if they could break their teeth by clashing with each other. Ami tasted of ice-cream, and her lips were still a bit colder than usual.

She wasn’t sure what had prompted it, but that little shared chuckle had completely taken away all her inhibitions. After weeks of waiting for this, after two days of being on edge about it, after all the teasing and kisses and fun and seeing Ami’s godly body in a bikini…

“I didn’t-” Ami tried to speak but was cut off by Minori’s mouth. Ami’s body was still a bit stiff, surprised by Minori’s aggressive approach. “Expect you to-” again, she tried speaking, but Minori wouldn’t let her. “Make the first move.”

Somewhat frustrated, Minori pulled back, eyeing Ami with what she knew was a comically serious expression. “Amin, would you _please_ stop making snarky remarks and start taking off your shirt?”

Ami’s face went from surprise to a teasing smirk as she brought up her hands, running her fingers through Minori’s hair before locking them behind her neck. Minori felt a chill run down her spine, goosebumps travelling through her limbs at the fire now present in her girlfriend’s eyes. “I’d rather you do that for me,” she said in a voice that had dropped a few octaves.

With nothing more to say, Minori went back to assaulting Ami’s lips.

When next morning came, Ami and Minori were a tangled mess of limbs and dry sweat that lay on precarious balance atop itself.

Ami opened her eyes to find that she was nesting her face in the crook below Minori’s neck, the natural scent of her girlfriend filling her nostrils as she took her first deep breath of the day. She hadn’t had a dream, and given the amount of light streaming through the window, it was probably past noon.

They had stayed _late_ into the night.

One of her arms was wrapped around Minori, while the other rested comfortably against her abdomen. She could feel Minori’s boobs subtly pressing against her, and memories of how they felt between her hands and mouth rushed into her, threatening to overcome her common sense and take it back from where they’d left it last night, where the both of them had basically passed out from exhaustion.

Instead, Ami pushed down those urges and smiled against Minori’s skin. She paid close attention to Minori’s rhythmic breathing, to the beat of her heart, to the rise and fall of her chest. She snuggled against her, feeling as if her body was vibrating in satisfaction at their shared warmth.

At some point during the heated night, Ami had realized just how lucky she was to actually have Minori. But now, that thought crashed back into her brain with extra strength, not pushed aside by the pleasures of the moment. Everything that had to happen for the two of them to be together was… stunning. A series of coincidences and conveniences that stretched as far as Ami moving away and changing schools because of that stupid stalker.

What they’d gone through, the heartbreaks they’d suffered—especially Minori—and the discussions they’d had. All of it leading up to… _this._ Ami’s arm tightened around Minori, wanting to pull her closer.

However, that woke Minori up. Ami realized this before Minori gave any obvious sign of it just by the way her body suddenly twitched, the changes in her breathing and her heartbeat fastening. A few seconds later, Ami felt Minori’s hand run up her back and play a bit with her hair. “You’re beautiful,” was the first thing Minori said.

“I thought we’d already established that,” Ami replied. That was the first thing Minori had said when Ami had gone full naked last night too.

“I love you,” Minori said.

“Well that came out of nowhere,” Ami looked up to see Minori beaming at her. “You’re not high because of what we did last night, are you?”

“The feeling has been there for a while now, I just didn’t voice it,” Minori leaned over and kissed Ami as they untangled their legs from each other. “I heard you say it the other night, though.”

Ami felt a rush of heat. “Y-you heard that?”

Minori nodded, leaning and kissing Ami again, slower this time, more passionate.

It was true, what Ami had said. What she felt for Minori, at this point, and after a month or so of dating, could be described as nothing but love. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe she was just an inexperienced, stupid teenager who didn’t really know how love felt like. But the attraction she felt towards Minori was unlike any she’d felt before, unlike any stupid crushes she may have had as a kid and unlike her fated-to-fail like for Ryuji.

“Well, then I guess I don’t need to say it,” Ami said when they broke the kiss. “But I love you too.”

Minori squeezed her tight before jumping from bed, fully naked, and pointing towards the bathroom. “With that established, I think it’s about time we both had a shower, don’t you think?” She asked.

Ami was baffled. “How are you this energetic after just waking up?”

“We have a full day ahead of us, Amin! And since we’re at it, maybe we can experiment what shower sex is like!” She had such childlike excitement in her voice that Ami couldn’t help but roll her eyes and get out of bed.

 _Don’t forget to wash the sheets,_ Anna’s voice echoed in Ami’s head.

“Go ahead and prepare the water,” Ami said. “I’m gonna put these sheets for laundry,” she turned, beginning to take them off the mattress. However, she paused when Minori’s arms slid around her waist, and a pair of lips kissed her ear.

“Maybe we should give them one more use before putting them away?” Minori suggested.

Ami smiled, her heart racing. She wasn’t sure what had changed in Minori the previous day, but she was really liking it. Maybe they should’ve been too tired to do this, but for some reason Ami felt as well rested as she had ever been. She turned, facing Minori, letting her eyes drink in all of the redhead’s naked beauty. “Maybe we should,” she said, pulling Minori onto the bed with her.

Minori smiled in satisfaction as she prepared brunch for her and Ami.

Happiness. That’s what she felt right now. Pure, unaltered happiness. She hummed as she fried some onions and then proceeded to add eggs on top of it, mixing the whole thing before dropping it on top of some toasts. Besides that was a bowl of rice for them both, a fresh coffee for Ami and a juice for Minori, and a small salad.

What had Minori been worried about before? Maybe it was here, away from the worries of her daily life, that she was thinking that.

But she also knew, deep inside, this was something she would never let go of. After last night… No, That wasn’t right.

It had been this morning, when her view first thing after opening her eyes was Ami’s naked body against hers, that she’d realized just how important the model was to her. She was patient, insightful, funny, kind, smart, beautiful, and another bajillion good things that Minori couldn’t stop to count lest her mind be overwhelmed by all of it.

She carried the brunch to the table, and Ami hummed, content as she ate.

Minori watched her do it with a smile, and Ami eventually noticed and deadpanned her. “I know we’re in love and all of that, but stop it with the goo-goo eyes and eat your food.”

Doing as she was told, Minori ate the now lukewarm food. She finished before Ami, and after they were both done, Ami stood and stretched. “Man, I’m sore.”

“Really?” Minori rolled her shoulders and moved her body a bit. “I’m a bit tired, but not _sore._ ”

“Well, you do a lot more exercise than me,” Ami explained as she picked up the dirty dishes.

That made sense. Minori smiled as a joke came to her head, but it was such an obviously stupid one that she let it pass. Not everything had to be about sex, even if that was the new shiny toy they were playing with right now.

She stood, going to the kitchen to help Ami with the dishes. “It’s like four things, don’t bother,” Ami waved her away.

“But I wanna help,” Minori stepped besides her anyways.

“You’re only making it harder for me,” Ami complained.

“Maybe we should, like, try to do it with one hand each. Coordinate, you know?” Minori suggested.

Ami very carefully, very methodically gave her a flat look that could only come from years of experience. “Minorin, I will politely ask you to go back to that table and patiently wait for me to be done. Else I’m going to kick you down the stairs to the beach.”

While her threat was clearly an empty one, Minori still felt compelled to obey. Going back to the table and waiting, she admired how beautiful Ami looked in that plain white t-shirt and how much that ponytail suited her. She ought to wear one of those more often…

“Ok, I’m all done. What now? Do we go down to the beach?” Ami asked.

Minori looked her up and down. Her first instinct was to say ‘screw that’ and throw herself at Ami again, but she _had_ just said she was sore. “Oh, hey, I know! Maybe we can go visit that cave where we scared off Taiga and Ryuji last year!” She suggested. The idea was a fun one, and maybe this time they could actually explore a little.

Ami considered this. “Well, I guess that’s not such a bad idea. Ok, lemme go fetch the flashlights.”

Minori stood as Ami rounded the corner. However, Ami foresaw what Minori was about to do and jumped on her first, stealing her lips. “While I am glad that you’ve become a lot more assertive about this,” Ami said, “I feel I have to remind you who of us is the one who started this whole thing.”

Minori giggled. “That’s exactly why I have to be like this, though. To make up for all my stupid indecisiveness before.”

“You don’t need to make up for anything. Not after last night, anyways,” Ami winked and stepped away, going to fetch their equipment.

Minori felt her heart skip a beat. She wondered if this feeling would ever fade.

She hoped it wouldn’t.


	22. Chapter 22

Ami and Minori watched the beach from the porch one last time before going away.

They stood next to each other, shoulders touching, in a comfortable but sad silence.

“When we go back, it’s studying for me, and work and practice for you,” Ami said.

Minori nodded. “These were five of the happiest days I’ve had in… a long time,” she said, turning to Ami. “Thank you for everything.”

Ami playfully bumped into her. “Stop it with the serious face. It’s not like we’re gonna die. We’ll come back here next year. Maybe we can bring whatever new friends we make in college over.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Minori smiled softly, looking down to the ocean.

“I still fear for the day we tell Taiga about this. She’s gonna be mad you’re dating _me_ of all people,” Ami commented.

“Don’t worry,” Minori said, “I’ll protect you.”

“I’m sure you will,” Ami leaned towards her. “So, are you going to talk to your parents about us?”

“I’ll try to do it when we get back. Maybe we should do it together; your blinding beauty is bound to make it easier.”

Ami rolled her eyes.

“And also, try apologizing to your friends,” Minori added.

“Why?”

“Because from now on I wanna spend every free minute I get with you,” Minori explained.

“Don’t worry, I can still hang out with the two of them while you’re on practice.”

“You’re not gonna watch me anymore?”

“While I do enjoy it, Minori, it can get pretty boring to just see you swing and pitch for two hours.”

Minori pouted, but she didn’t give her a counter argument. “Hey, Amin?” she asked instead.

“What is it?”

“I know this is silly,” she turned, pointing her pinky at her. “But promise me we’ll always be together. Even if we break up for whatever reason, promise me we’ll still be friends.”

Ami was a bit offended by the implication that they’d ever break up, but she understood where Minori was coming from. She took that pinky and pulled on it with meaning. “I promise,” she said. “But as we’ve already made it like this in the past, I’ll ask for something in return.”

“Whatever you want,” Minori nodded.

“Promise me you’ll never drive a motorcycle again.”

Minori blinked. “Wait, what?”

Ami smirked. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t wanna hurt your feelings, but Minori, your driving is _awful_ in those things. Did you think I was clinging tightly to you because of love? Hell no, I feared for my life!”

Minori pushed her away with a laugh. “I was trying to be serious!”

“And I am too!” Ami walked closer again, embracing Minori. “Really, you’re awful.”

“Shut up,” Minori said. She still melted into Ami.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Their hug lasted for a while. A long while.

Long enough that, before they realized, it was late and they had to run out the house and down the hill to catch the bus.

But they did it all with a smile, knowing that whatever happened, they still had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you made it. Or you skipped over to read this. Whatever the case, here you are.  
> So, for starters, you may have noticed a few not-so-modern things in this work, from tech to how people talk about some things. That's because this is technically set around 2010, so sorry if you think all the mentioning of "We're both girls" is a bit annoying, but it was also relevant.   
> Other than that, I really hope you enjoyed this, which I'll assume you have if you've finished it.  
> If not, well, that's fine too.  
> Leave a comment!  
> See you next time.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, and would like to see _some more of it_ , consider _checking out_ my twitter or contacting me through Discord!  
> -Twitter: @BillErak (95% of this account is retweets of shitposting or gay stuff, check pinned tweet)  
> -Discord Tag: VathýSkotádi#1696  
> I'd really appreciate the _support!_


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